Core i7-11700KF vs Xeon Gold 6138

Core i7-11700KF

8 Cores16 Thrd125 WWMax: 5 GHz2021

Xeon Gold 6138

20 Cores40 Thrd125 WWMax: 3.7 GHz2017

Performance Spectrum - CPU

Core i7-11700KF

8 / 16

23,811

0.0%

24,108

+1.2%

About PassMark

PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Value Upgrade Path

This is the official ChipVERSUS Value Rating, comparing raw performance (PassMark) per dollar. Components placed above yours deliver better value for money.

MSRP is the manufacturer's suggested retail price.•
Avg price is the current average price collected from markets across the web.

Performance Per Dollar Core i7-11700KF

#231

Core i7-8700B

MSRP: $303|Avg: $139

107%

#232

Ryzen 3 2200G

MSRP: $99|Avg: $80

106%

#233

Core i3-9100F

MSRP: $97|Avg: $80

105%

#234

Ryzen 7 9800X3D

MSRP: $479|Avg: $479

105%

#235

Ryzen 9 3900XT

MSRP: $499|Avg: $390

105%

#236

Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G

MSRP: $176|Avg: $176

104%

#237

Core i7-14700T

MSRP: $384|Avg: $384

103%

#238

Core i3-13100TE

MSRP: $137|Avg: $137

103%

#239

Core i5-9600T

MSRP: $213|Avg: $118

102%

#240

Core i5-12400T

MSRP: $192|Avg: $192

102%

#241

Core i9-14900F

MSRP: $524|Avg: $579

102%

#242

Celeron G6900E

MSRP: $53|Avg: $53

101%

#243

Core i3-12300T

MSRP: $209|Avg: $164

101%

#244

Core i9-12900

MSRP: $519|Avg: $420

101%

#245

Ryzen 3 8300G

MSRP: $176|Avg: $176

101%

#246

Core i7-11700KF

MSRP: $374|Avg: $299

100%

#247

Core i5-10600K

MSRP: $262|Avg: $179

100%

#248

Core i3-10325

MSRP: $154|Avg: $130

99%

#249

Ryzen Embedded V2718

MSRP: $250|Avg: $200

99%

#250

Core i7-8086K

MSRP: $425|Avg: $178

99%

#251

Core i3-10300T

MSRP: $157|Avg: $100

99%

#252

Core i9-10900TE

MSRP: $309|Avg: $180

99%

#253

Core i9-12900T

MSRP: $489|Avg: $378

98%

#254

Core i5-12600T

MSRP: $223|Avg: $223

98%

#255

Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE

MSRP: $200|Avg: $180

98%

#256

Ryzen 5 3500X

MSRP: $155|Avg: $171

97%

#256

Ryzen 7 1700X

MSRP: $399|Avg: $60

49%

#257

Core i9-14900

MSRP: $524|Avg: $589

97%

#258

Core i5-8600

MSRP: $213|Avg: $130

96%

#259

Core i3-9100TE

MSRP: $122|Avg: $60

96%

#260

Core i5-12500T

MSRP: $302|Avg: $214

96%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Per Dollar Xeon Gold 6138

#485

Xeon Gold 6258R

MSRP: $3950|Avg: $1400

111%

#486

EPYC 9175F

MSRP: $4256|Avg: $3703

111%

#488

EPYC 9534

MSRP: $8803|Avg: $2999

110%

#489

EPYC 9654

MSRP: $11805|Avg: $5345

109%

#490

EPYC 7H12

MSRP: $6950|Avg: $1340

109%

#491

EPYC 7742

MSRP: $6950|Avg: $800

108%

#492

Xeon Platinum 8352M

MSRP: $4471|Avg: $4471

108%

#493

Xeon Platinum 8570

MSRP: $9595|Avg: $9595

106%

#494

EPYC 9184X

MSRP: $4928|Avg: $3750

105%

#495

Xeon Platinum 8470

MSRP: $9359|Avg: $9359

104%

#496

Xeon E7-8857 v2

MSRP: $3838|Avg: $2995

102%

#497

Xeon Gold 6148

MSRP: $3072|Avg: $290

102%

#498

Xeon E5-1681 V3

MSRP: $1589|Avg: $200

101%

#499

Xeon W-3275

MSRP: $4449|Avg: $1550

101%

#500

Xeon Gold 6138

MSRP: $2612|Avg: $300

100%

#501

Xeon E5-2690 v4

MSRP: $2090|Avg: $389

100%

#502

Xeon Platinum 8362

MSRP: $6236|Avg: $5740

99%

#503

Xeon W-3275M

MSRP: $4449|Avg: $4449

98%

#504

Xeon E5-2660 v3

MSRP: $1445|Avg: $150

98%

#505

Xeon E5-2679 v4

MSRP: $2702|Avg: $500

97%

#506

Xeon E5-2680 v3

MSRP: $1745|Avg: $212

92%

#507

Xeon Platinum 8562Y+

MSRP: $5945|Avg: $7000

91%

#508

Xeon E7-8895 v2

MSRP: $6841|Avg: $65

91%

#509

EPYC 9754

MSRP: $11900|Avg: $10631

90%

#509

EPYC 9684X

MSRP: $14756|Avg: $14756

90%

#511

Xeon D-1587

MSRP: $1652|Avg: $1443

89%

#512

Xeon E5-2687W v4

MSRP: $2141|Avg: $1138

89%

#513

Xeon W-3265

MSRP: $3684|Avg: $3400

89%

#514

Xeon E5-2658A V3

MSRP: $1832|Avg: $200

88%

#515

Xeon E5-4640 v4

MSRP: $2837|Avg: N/A

86%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Comparison

About PassMark

🏆 Chipversus Verdict

🚀 Performance Leadership

Use Case Distinction: This is a comparison between a Professional Workstation processor ($300) and a Consumer Desktop CPU. The Xeon Gold 6138 is engineered for massive parallel workloads (rendering, scientific simulations), offering significantly higher core counts.

Insight	Core i7-11700KF	Xeon Gold 6138
Gaming	✅ Superior gaming performance	❌ Lower gaming performance
Workstation	❌ Weaker in multi-core tasks	✅ Better multi-core power
Price	✅ More affordable ($299)	⚠️ Higher cost ($300)
Longevity	✨ Modern (Rocket Lake (2021) / 14 nm)	✨ Modern (Skylake (server) (2017−2018) / 14 nm)

💎 Value Proposition

The Core i7-11700KF ($299), however, is optimized for mixed workloads and gaming. For most users, it offers superior single-thread performance and responsiveness at a fraction of the cost ($1 less, 0% cheaper), making it the better choice for daily use and gaming.

Insight	Core i7-11700KF	Xeon Gold 6138
Cost Efficiency	❌ Lower cost efficiency	✅ Better overall value (+1%)
Upfront Cost	✅ More affordable ($299)	⚠️ Higher cost ($300)

Performance Check

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Core i7-11700KF Benchmark Check

Xeon Gold 6138 Benchmark Check

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Core i7-11700KF and Xeon Gold 6138

Core i7-11700KF

The Core i7-11700KF is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 16 March 2021 (4 years ago). It is based on the Rocket Lake (2021) architecture. It features 8 cores and 16 threads. Base frequency is 3.6 GHz, with boost up to 5 GHz. L3 cache: 16 MB (total). L2 cache: 256K (per core). Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA1200. Thermal design power (TDP): 125 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-3200. Passmark benchmark score: 23,811 points. Launch price was $299.

Xeon Gold 6138

The Xeon Gold 6138 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 25 April 2017 (8 years ago). It is based on the Skylake (server) (2017−2018) architecture. It features 20 cores and 40 threads. Base frequency is 2 GHz, with boost up to 3.7 GHz. L3 cache: 27.5 MB. L2 cache: 20 MB. Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA3647. Thermal design power (TDP): 125 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-2666. Passmark benchmark score: 24,108 points. Launch price was $2,612.

⚡

Processing Power

The Core i7-11700KF packs 8 cores / 16 threads, while the Xeon Gold 6138 offers 20 cores / 40 threads — the Xeon Gold 6138 has 12 more cores. Boost clocks reach 5 GHz on the Core i7-11700KF versus 3.7 GHz on the Xeon Gold 6138 — a 29.9% clock advantage for the Core i7-11700KF (base: 3.6 GHz vs 2 GHz). The Core i7-11700KF uses the Rocket Lake (2021) architecture (14 nm), while the Xeon Gold 6138 uses Skylake (server) (2017−2018) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core i7-11700KF scores 23,811 against the Xeon Gold 6138's 24,108 — a 1.2% lead for the Xeon Gold 6138. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 2,287 vs 1,261, a 57.8% lead for the Core i7-11700KF that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 10,874 vs 15,439 (34.7% advantage for the Xeon Gold 6138). L3 cache: 16 MB (total) on the Core i7-11700KF vs 27.5 MB on the Xeon Gold 6138.

Feature	Core i7-11700KF	Xeon Gold 6138
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	20 / 40+150%
Boost Clock	5 GHz+35%	3.7 GHz
Base Clock	3.6 GHz+80%	2 GHz
L3 Cache	16 MB (total)	27.5 MB+72%
L2 Cache	256K (per core)	20 MB+7900%
Process	14 nm	14 nm
Architecture	Rocket Lake (2021)	Skylake (server) (2017−2018)
PassMark	23,811	24,108+1%
Cinebench R23 Multi	15,011	—
Geekbench 6 Single	2,287+81%	1,261
Geekbench 6 Multi	10,874	15,439+42%

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Core i7-11700KF uses the LGA1200 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Xeon Gold 6138 uses LGA3647 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-3200 memory speed. The Xeon Gold 6138 supports up to 768 GB of RAM compared to 128 GB — 142.9% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Core i7-11700KF) vs 6 (Xeon Gold 6138). PCIe lanes: 20 (Core i7-11700KF) vs 48 (Xeon Gold 6138) — the Xeon Gold 6138 offers 28 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: Z590,B560 (Core i7-11700KF) and C621 (Xeon Gold 6138).

Feature	Core i7-11700KF	Xeon Gold 6138
Socket	LGA1200	LGA3647
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0+33%	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-3200	DDR4-2666
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB	768 GB+500%
RAM Channels	2	6+200%
ECC Support	❌	✅
PCIe Lanes	20	48+140%

🔧

Advanced Features

Only the Core i7-11700KF has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking — a significant advantage for enthusiasts seeking extra performance. Both support AVX-512 instructions, benefiting scientific computing, AI inference, and encryption workloads. Both support VT-x, VT-d virtualization. Primary use case: Xeon Gold 6138 targets Server.

Feature	Core i7-11700KF	Xeon Gold 6138
Integrated GPU	No	No
IGPU Model	—	None
Unlocked	Yes	No
AVX-512	Yes	Yes
Virtualization	VT-x, VT-d	VT-x, VT-d
Target Use	—	Server

💰

Value Analysis

The Core i7-11700KF launched at $374 MSRP, while the Xeon Gold 6138 debuted at $2612. At current prices ($299 vs $300), the Core i7-11700KF is $1 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i7-11700KF delivers 79.6 pts/$ vs 80.4 pts/$ for the Xeon Gold 6138 — making the Xeon Gold 6138 the 0.9% better value option.