Intel Xeon W3540 vs AMD Opteron 254

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon W3540 and AMD Opteron 254 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

Intel Xeon W3540

AMD Opteron 254

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon W3540

CPU is newer: launch date 3 year(s) 6 month(s) later
3 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 1
Around 14% higher clock speed: 3.20 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 90 nm
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
2.2x better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1297 vs 578
6.9x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3109 vs 451

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	March 2009 vs August 2005
Number of cores	4 vs 1
Maximum frequency	3.20 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 90 nm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1297 vs 578
PassMark - CPU mark	3109 vs 451

Reasons to consider the AMD Opteron 254

Around 41% lower typical power consumption: 92 Watt vs 130 Watt

Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2 vs 1
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	92 Watt vs 130 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon W3540
CPU 2: AMD Opteron 254

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1297

578

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

3109

451

Name	Intel Xeon W3540	AMD Opteron 254
PassMark - Single thread mark	1297	578
PassMark - CPU mark	3109	451
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	534
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	2148
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	0.976
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	50.158
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	0.307
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	1.621
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	4.438

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon W3540	AMD Opteron 254
Essentials
Architecture codename	Bloomfield	Troy
Launch date	March 2009	August 2005
Launch price (MSRP)	$699
Place in performance rating	2740	2870
Price now	$19.92
Processor Number	W3540
Series	Legacy Intel® Xeon® Processors
Status	Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)	80.92
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.93 GHz
Bus Speed	4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size	263 mm2
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1024 KB
L3 cache	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	90 nm
Maximum core temperature	67.9°C
Maximum frequency	3.20 GHz	2.8 GHz
Number of cores	4	1
Number of QPI Links	1
Number of threads	8
Transistor count	731 million	106 million
VID voltage range	0.800V-1.375V
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size	24 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3 800/1066
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	2
Package Size	42.5mm x 45.0mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA1366	940
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	130 Watt	92 Watt
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)	36-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)