Intel Xeon Gold 6421N vs Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon Gold 6421N and Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

Intel Xeon Gold 6421N

Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon Gold 6421N

18 more cores, run more applications at once: 32 vs 14
36 more threads: 64 vs 28
Around 13% higher clock speed: 3.6 GHz vs 3.20 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 10 nm vs 14 nm
Around 56% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 2978 vs 1906
2.2x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 58797 vs 26434

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	32 vs 14
Number of threads	64 vs 28
Maximum frequency	3.6 GHz vs 3.20 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	10 nm vs 14 nm
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	2978 vs 1906
PassMark - CPU mark	58797 vs 26434

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4

Around 76% lower typical power consumption: 105 Watt vs 185 Watt

Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2 vs 1
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	105 Watt vs 185 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon Gold 6421N
CPU 2: Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

2978

1906

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

58797

26434

Name	Intel Xeon Gold 6421N	Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4
PassMark - Single thread mark	2978	1906
PassMark - CPU mark	58797	26434
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		3364
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		25358

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon Gold 6421N	Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4
Essentials
Launch date	10 Jan 2023	Q1'16
Launch price (MSRP)	$2368
Place in performance rating	212	217
Architecture codename		Broadwell
Processor Number		E5-2660V4
Series		Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v4 Family
Status		Launched
Vertical segment		Server
Performance
Base frequency	1800 MHz	2.00 GHz
L1 cache	80K (per core)
L2 cache	2MB (per core)
L3 cache	60MB
Manufacturing process technology	10 nm	14 nm
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	85°C
Maximum frequency	3.6 GHz	3.20 GHz
Number of cores	32	14
Number of threads	64	28
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed		9.6 GT/s QPI
Maximum core temperature		79°C
Number of QPI Links		2
Memory
ECC memory support
Supported memory types	DDR5-4400 MHz, Eight-channel	DDR4 1600/1866/2133/2400
Max memory channels		4
Maximum memory bandwidth		76.8 GB/s
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	2
Sockets supported	4677	FCLGA2011-3
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	185 Watt	105 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		45mm x 52.5mm
Peripherals
PCIe configurations	Gen 5, 80 Lanes, (CPU only)	x4, x8, x16
Max number of PCIe lanes		40
PCI Express revision		3.0
Scalability		2S
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® OS Guard
Intel® Secure Key technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® AVX2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Flex Memory Access
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® TSX-NI
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		46-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)