Intel Xeon E5-2600, E5-2400 and E5-4600 Processors

Reading the E5 model number

The digits after "E5-" give the family and the version suffix gives the generation, and together they decide the server. Intel ARK lists E5-2600 and E5-2400 parts as two-socket and E5-4600 parts as four-socket; E5-2400 parts also use the LGA1356 socket with three memory channels per processor, where E5-2600 parts have four. Each family and generation, per Intel:

Intel ARK labels all four E5-2600 generations FCLGA2011, but Intel's socket reference separates LGA2011-0 for v1 and v2 from LGA2011-3 for v3 and v4, and the memory changes with it: v1 and v2 run DDR3, v3 and v4 run DDR4, so Dell builds the two pairs into different servers.

E5-2600 generations at a glance

Each E5-2600 generation raised the core count and the memory speed, while the socket changed only once, between v2 and v3. HPE's DL380p Gen8 and DL380 Gen9 QuickSpecs, which list HPE's full two-socket processor offer, give these ranges:

Memory follows the pairs: v1 and v2 take DDR3 server memory and v3 and v4 take DDR4 server memory.

Matching E5 processors to servers

Dell specifies the R720 for E5-2600 and E5-2600 v2, the PowerEdge R630 and the R730 for E5-2600 v3 or v4, the R420 for E5-2400 and E5-2400 v2, and the four-socket R830 for E5-4600 v4. HPE's DL380 Gen9 QuickSpecs list the E5-2600 v3 and v4 families and allow a field upgrade from v3 to v4, yet rule out pairing one v3 with one v4 processor in the same server, so order matched CPUs. Pick a generation on the E5-2600 v4, E5-2600 v3 or E5-2600 v2 page, or step up to Xeon Scalable processors for 14th-generation PowerEdge and later.

E5 parts come with an Enterasource warranty whose length is printed on each product page. Other families are under Intel Xeon processors and server CPUs.

Xeon E5 questions

What do the numbers in an E5-2600 model mean?

Read them left to right. E5 is the product line; the first digit matches the processor count Intel ARK gives the family, two for E5-2600 and E5-2400 and four for E5-4600; the second digit separates the LGA2011 families (6) from the LGA1356 family (4); the last two digits identify the model; and v2, v3 or v4 names the generation, which fixes the socket and memory type.

Which E5-2600 generations can share a server?

Only the pairs. v1 and v2 share LGA2011-0 and DDR3, and HPE lets a DL380p Gen8 move from the first to the second; v3 and v4 share LGA2011-3 and DDR4, and the DL380 Gen9 can move up to v4 in the field, though HPE rules out one v3 and one v4 side by side. Nothing crosses between the pairs.