We offer several different CPU options with our Dedicated servers and have created this article to provide a more comprehensive comparison chart of their specifications to help you choose among them.
CPU Comparison Chart
(sorted by Release Date)
| CPU Model | # of Cores | # of Threads | Base Freq | Turbo Freq | L3 Cache | Date Released | Manufacturer’s Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Xeon 5150 | 2 | n/a | 2.66GHz | n/a | 4MB | 2006-Q2 | Link |
| Intel Xeon X5355 | 4 | n/a | 2.66GHz | n/a | 8MB | 2006-Q4 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5205 | 2 | n/a | 1.86GHz | n/a | 6MB | 2007-Q4 | Link |
| Intel Xeon L5420 | 4 | n/a | 2.5GHz | n/a | 12MB | 2008-Q1 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5645 | 6 | 12 | 2.4GHz | 2.67GHz | 12MB | 2010-Q1 | Link |
| Intel Xeon L5630 | 6 | 12 | 2.13GHz | 2.4GHz | 12MB | 2010-Q1 | Link |
| Intel Xeon L5640 | 6 | 12 | 2.26GHz | 2.8GHz | 12MB | 2010-Q1 | Link |
| AMD Opteron 6238 | 12 | n/a | 2.6GHz | 3.2GHz | 16MB | 2011-Q4 | Link |
| AMD Opteron 6272 | 16 | n/a | 2.1GHz | 3GHz | 16MB | 2011-Q4 | Link |
| AMD Opteron 6276 | 16 | n/a | 2.3GHz | 3.2GHz | 16MB | 2011-Q4 | Link |
| Intel i7-3930K | 6 | 12 | 3.2GHz | 3.8GHz | 12MB | 2011-Q4 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E3-1240 V2 | 4 | 8 | 3.4GHz | 3.8GHz | 8MB | 2012-Q2 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 | 4 | 8 | 3.5GHz | 3.9GHz | 8MB | 2012-Q2 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E3-1270 V3 | 4 | 8 | 3.5GHz | 3.9GHz | 8MB | 2013-Q2 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5-1620 V2 | 4 | 8 | 3.7GHz | 3.9GHz | 10MB | 2013-Q3 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5-2620 V2 | 6 | 12 | 2.1GHz | 2.6GHz | 15MB | 2013-Q3 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5-2670 V2 | 10 | 20 | 2.5GHz | 3.3GHz | 25MB | 2013-Q3 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E3-1271 V3 | 4 | 8 | 3.6GHz | 4GHz | 8MB | 2014-Q2 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E5-2620 V3 | 6 | 12 | 2.4GHz | 3.2GHz | 15MB | 2014-Q3 | Link |
| Intel Xeon E3-1270 V6 | 4 | 8 | 3.8GHz | 4.2GHz | 8MB | 2017-Q1 | Link |
Some of our highest tier Dedicated servers are dual socket and have 2 of the same CPUs installed; these servers are great for very computationally intensive tasks. On our Dedicated Servers page, the available dual processor/socket servers are listed with a “2x” or “Dual(2)” in front of the CPU model’s name, for example “Dual(2) E5-2670 v2”. For clarity these dual systems are not shown above, however the total number of cores and threads would obviously be double the value listed in the table.
AES-NI extensions, to speed up encryption calculations, are available on all CPUs released in 2010 or later.
Definitions
Cores and Threads:
Most of our CPUs include Hyper-threading technology which can divide a physical processor (core) into 2 logical ones (threads). This can help improve performance by allowing a single core to process two separate tasks at the same time. Having more cores allows your server to do more things at once.
L3 Cache:
An L3 cache is a small amount of very fast memory stored on the CPU chip itself. This cache is used by the CPU to store instructions that are being processed by multiple cores to provide quicker lookups for the processor. As this cache is much faster than RAM it can help reduce bottlenecks and improve processing performance.
Base Frequency vs Turbo:
The Base Frequency is the normal clock speed the CPU will operate at, however when conditions are right the CPU will automatically scale up to the faster Turbo clock speed. These conditions are determined by the number of threads or processes, as well as the type of workload the CPU being asked to do. Servers used to host games usually benefit from having a faster clock speed versus having more cores.