Intel Core i7-5775R vs Intel Xeon E3-1585 v5 Comparison

The Intel Xeon E3-1585 v5 and Intel Core i7-5775R occupy a curious corner of Intel's history: both are soldered BGA parts with Iris Pro integrated graphics, both carry a 65 W thermal envelope, and both are now end-of-life. Yet the recorded benchmark data shows one of them winning every single head-to-head test by a strikingly consistent margin. This analysis walks through what separates these two chips and what the numbers say about which one earned its keep.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster overall?

A: The Xeon E3-1585 v5 wins all six recorded head-to-head benchmarks, with a lead between 12.2% and 12.5% in every test. Its average benchmark score of 2067 also edges out the i7-5775R's 2031.

Q: How do their integrated GPUs compare?

A: The Xeon carries Iris Pro Graphics P580 while the Core i7 carries Iris Pro Graphics 6200. Both are Iris Pro-class solutions from Intel, but the database contains no head-to-head graphics benchmark results, so relative iGPU performance cannot be quantified here.

Q: Do both chips support ECC memory?

A: No. The Xeon E3-1585 v5 supports ECC memory, which aligns with its Server/Workstation segment. The Core i7-5775R does not.

Q: Are these overclockable?

A: Neither. Both have a locked multiplier, so tuning headroom is off the table for both parts.

Q: What memory does each support?

A: The Xeon supports both DDR3 and DDR4 on a dual-channel bus with 34.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The i7-5775R supports DDR3 only, with 29.9 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Are these CPUs still in production?

A: No, both are listed as end-of-life. The Xeon was released on May 30, 2016, and the Core i7 on May 14, 2015.

Architecture Differences

On the surface these are near twins: four cores, eight threads, 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 cache per core, a 65 W TDP, and PCIe Gen 3 with 16 CPU lanes. Both were fabbed by Intel on its 14 nm process. The divergence begins with the microarchitecture. The Xeon E3-1585 v5 is a Skylake-H design, one generation newer than the i7-5775R's Broadwell.

That generational step shows up in the L3 cache: 8 MB shared on the Xeon versus 6 MB shared on the Core i7, a difference that plausibly contributes to the uniform benchmark gap. Clock speeds also favor the Xeon, with a 3.50 GHz base and 3.90 GHz boost against the i7's 3.30 GHz base and 3.80 GHz boost. Neither part has an unlocked multiplier, so those stock frequencies are the ceiling.

The platform stories differ too. The Xeon sits in an Intel BGA 1440 socket and supports both DDR3 and DDR4 memory, while the i7-5775R uses the older Intel BGA 1364 socket and supports DDR3 only. The Xeon's dual-channel memory subsystem delivers 34.1 GB/s of bandwidth versus 29.9 GB/s for the i7. Physical dimensions split the two as well: the Xeon's die measures 171 mm² with 2,300 million transistors, while the Broadwell part's die is slightly larger at 182 mm² with no transistor count recorded in the database.

Market placement is the final differentiator. The Xeon was aimed at the Server/Workstation segment with a launch MSRP of $556; the Core i7 targeted the Desktop segment at a launch MSRP of $384. Both carry Iris Pro integrated graphics, the P580 on the Xeon and the 6200 on the i7.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The headline is the sweep: the Xeon E3-1585 v5 took six wins from six contests, and the margin barely moved between tests. In Cinebench R15 the Xeon scored 720 multi-core and 101 single-core against the i7's 641 and 90, advantages of 12.3% and 12.2% respectively. Cinebench R20 tells the same story: 3001 versus 2671 multi-core (12.4%) and 423 versus 376 single-core (12.5%).

The newest Cinebench run, R23, lands right in line: 7146 versus 6360 multi-core (12.4%) and 1008 versus 897 single-core (12.4%). That uniformity across three Cinebench generations is itself informative. A gap that stays pinned at roughly twelve percent across single- and multi-threaded workloads suggests the difference is driven by broad architectural factors, the clock speed advantage, the larger L3 cache, and the Skylake microarchitecture, rather than by any workload-specific quirk.

For context against the wider database, the Xeon sits in the 46th percentile of all CPUs with an average score of 2067, while the i7-5775R sits in the 45th percentile at 2031. The Xeon's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G (avgScore 2059, 0.4% behind), the Intel Xeon E5-2628 v3 (2076, 0.4% ahead), the Intel Core i3-10105T (2058, 0.4% behind), and the Intel Core i7-8705G (2058, 0.5% behind). The i7-5775R's neighborhood is populated almost entirely by Skylake-era Xeon E3 parts: the E3-1240 v5 (2030, 0% delta), the E3-1280 v5 (2029, 0.1%), the E3-1260L v5 (2029, 0.1%), and the Xeon E-2124G (2034, 0.1% ahead). The i7 also has Geekbench results recorded, 3996 multi-core and 1218 single-core, but no matching Xeon entries exist for comparison.

The Verdict

The data leaves little room for debate on raw performance: the Xeon E3-1585 v5 is the stronger processor in every measured category. It is faster in all six recorded benchmarks, its average score is higher, and its percentile ranking is a notch above. Anyone choosing purely on compute throughput should take the Xeon.

But the recorded data suggests the choice is more nuanced than the score sweep implies. The Xeon brings server-grade credentials, ECC memory support and DDR4 compatibility, alongside its higher launch MSRP of $556. The i7-5775R, launched at $384 as a desktop part, offers none of those workstation features, yet delivers roughly 89% of the Xeon's performance while trailing by a consistent margin. For a desktop use case without ECC requirements, the i7's deficit may be acceptable; for a memory-reliability-sensitive deployment, the Xeon is the only option of the two. Both parts are end-of-life and locked, so neither offers an upgrade or tuning path. The recorded data supports a simple split: maximum performance and platform features point to the Xeon, desktop adequacy points to the i7.

Specification Differences

• Architecture: Skylake (Skylake-H) versus Broadwell
• Base clock: 3.50 GHz versus 3.30 GHz
• Boost clock: 3.90 GHz versus 3.80 GHz
• L3 cache: 8 MB shared versus 6 MB shared
• Memory support: DDR3 and DDR4 versus DDR3 only
• Memory bandwidth: 34.1 GB/s versus 29.9 GB/s
• ECC memory: supported versus not supported
• Socket: Intel BGA 1440 versus Intel BGA 1364
• Integrated graphics: Iris Pro Graphics P580 versus Iris Pro Graphics 6200
• Market segment: Server/Workstation versus Desktop
• Die size: 171 mm² versus 182 mm²
• Transistors: 2,300 million versus not recorded
• Release date: May 30, 2016 versus May 14, 2015
• Launch MSRP: $556 versus $384
• Part number: SR2RB versus SR2AL

Fields where the two are identical include core count (4), thread count (8), TDP (65 W), process node (14 nm), foundry (Intel), PCIe (Gen 3, 16 CPU lanes), memory bus (dual-channel), L1 and L2 cache per core, and the locked multiplier.

Where Each One Wins

Xeon E3-1585 v5 wins:

• All rendering workloads measured, from Cinebench R15 through R23, in both single- and multi-core modes, by 12.2% to 12.5%
• Memory-intensive tasks, courtesy of 34.1 GB/s bandwidth and DDR4 support
• Reliability-critical deployments, as the only one of the two with ECC support
• Cache-sensitive workloads, with 8 MB of L3 versus 6 MB

Core i7-5775R wins:

• Nothing in the recorded benchmark data. Its six head-to-head contests all went to the Xeon, leaving the i7 without a single measured victory.
• Its remaining case is contextual rather than performance-based: it was positioned as a desktop part, launched earlier at a lower launch MSRP of $384, and still ranks in the 45th percentile of all CPUs with an average score of 2031, effectively on par with Skylake Xeon E3 contemporaries such as the E3-1240 v5 (delta 0%) and E3-1280 v5 (delta 0.1%).

The pattern is unusually clean for a cross-generation comparison. When a newer architecture, higher clocks, more cache, and faster memory all point the same direction, a uniform twelve percent sweep is exactly what the data would predict.