Important changes available in E5-4600v2 “Ivy Bridge” include:
- Up to 12 processor cores per socket (with options for 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-cores)
- Support for DDR3 memory speeds up to 1866MHz
- Improved PCI-Express generation 3.0 support with improved compatibility and new features: atomics, x16 non-transparent bridge & quadrupled read buffers for P2P transfers
- AVX has been extended to support F16C (16-bit Floating-Point conversion instructions) to accelerate data conversion between 16-bit and 32-bit floating point formats
- Intel APIC Virtualization (APICv) provides increased virtualization performance
With a product this complex, it’s very difficult to cover every aspect of the design. Here, we concentrate primarily on the performance of the processors for HPC applications.
Intel Xeon E5-4600v2 Series Specifications
Table
| Model | Frequency | Turbo Boost | Core Count | Memory Speed | L3 Cache | QPI Speed | TDP (Watts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E5-4657Lv2 | 2.40 GHz | 2.90 GHz | 12 | 1866 MHz | 30MB | 8 GT/S | 115 |
| E5-4650v2 | 2.40 GHz | 2.90 GHz | 10 | 25MB | 95W | ||
| E5-4640v2 | 2.20 GHz | 2.70 GHz | 20MB | ||||
| E5-4627v2 | 3.30 GHz | 3.60 GHz | 8 | 16MB | 7.2 GT/S | 130W | |
| E5-4620v2 | 2.60 GHz | 3.00 GHz | 1600 MHz | 20MB | 95W | ||
| E5-4610v2 | 2.30 GHz | 2.70 GHz | 16MB |
HPC groups do not typically choose Intel’s “Basic” models – those skus are not shown.
Frequency
Cores
Cycles
Memory Speed
L3
QPI
TDP
Intel Turbo Boost in Xeon E5-4600v2 series “Ivy Bridge” processors
Turbo Boost:
Summary
The plot below details the turbo-boosted clock speeds for each model. As additional CPU cores are loaded, less power and thermal headroom remains, which results in lower clock speeds. When load diminishes and fewer CPU cores are loaded, additional power and thermal headroom is available. The end result is higher CPU clock speeds for fewer numbers of active cores.
Choose for your applications
If the applications you use are only lightly-threaded, you may wish to choose processors with the highest possible clock speed. This will deliver the best performance for applications that are not able to leverage the higher core counts of these latest processor models.
Review the tabs above – from 12 to 1 – to select the appropriate processor model given the number of CPU cores you expect to use.
12 / 11
10 / 9
8 through 3
2
1
Processor Prices
Performance vs. Price
Performance vs. Power
Summary of features in Xeon E5-4600v2 “Ivy Bridge” processors
In addition to the capabilities mentioned at the top of this article, these processors include many of the successful features from earlier Xeon designs. The list below provides a summary of relevant technology features:
- Up to 12 processor cores per socket (with options for 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-cores)
- Support for Quad-channel ECC DDR3 memory speeds up to 1866MHz
- Direct PCI-Express (generation 3.0) connections between each CPU and peripheral devices such as network adapters, GPUs and coprocessors (40 PCI-E lanes per socket). Improved PCI-Express generation 3.0 support with improved compatibility and new features: atomics, x16 non-transparent bridge & quadrupled read buffers for P2P transfers
- Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) accelerate floating point operations used in HPC & technical computing applications. This technology expands the math unit from 128-bits to 256-bits, effectively doubling throughput. AVX has been extended to support F16C (16-bit Floating-Point conversion instructions) to accelerate data conversion between 16-bit and 32-bit floating point formats
- Turbo Boost technology improves performance under peak loads by increasing processor clock speeds. With version 2.0, (introduced in “Sandy Bridge”) clock speeds are boosted more frequently, to higher speeds and for longer periods of time.
- Dual Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) links between processor sockets improve communication speeds for multi-threaded applications
- Intel Intelligent Power Technology reduces individual idling cores to near-zero power. Power gates adjust processors and memory to the lowest available power state to meet workload requirements without impacting performance.
- Intel Data Direct I/O Technology increases performance and reduces latency by allowing Intel ethernet controllers and adapters to talk directly with the processor cache
- Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (AES-NI) accelerate encryption and decryption for fast, affordable data protection and security
- 32-bit & 64-bit Intel Virtualization Technology (VT/VT-x) for Directed I/O (VT-d) and Connectivity (VT-c) deliver faster performance for core virtualization processes and provide built-in hardware support for I/O virtualization.
- Intel APIC Virtualization (APICv) provides increased virtualization performance
- Hyper-Threading technology allows two threads to “share” a processor core for improved resource usage. Although useful for some workloads, it is not recommended for HPC applications.
More information is available in Intel’s Xeon E5-4600v2 Product Brief.
