Intel Xeon Gold 6342

The Intel Xeon Gold 6342 is a 24-core, 48-thread Ice Lake-SP processor built for the Intel Socket 4189 platform. It targets server and workstation workloads where high core counts and memory bandwidth matter more than raw single-thread speed. The data places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 11574, positioning it as a solid, if not class-leading, multi-threaded performer.

Benchmark Performance

The Xeon Gold 6342 delivers strong multi-threaded results across the Cinebench suite, with its 24 cores and 48 threads clearly doing the heavy lifting. In Cinebench R23, it scores 40014 points multi-core and 5649 points single-core. The multi-core score is roughly 7x its single-core score, which is consistent with a well-scaled 24-core design. In Cinebench R20, it achieves 16805 multi-core and 2372 single-core, while in the older R15 test, it posts 4033 multi-core and 569 single-core.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the average benchmark score of 11574 shows a narrow but real advantage. The Xeon Gold 6342 edges out the Intel Core i7-4790 by 0.7%, with that rival scoring 11499. Against the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7945, it leads by 0.9%, as that part averages 11469. The gap widens slightly versus the AMD EPYC 73F3, where the Xeon Gold 6342 is 2.1% ahead of the EPYC's 11334 average. The only rival it trails is the Intel Core i7-4790K, which scores 11738 and beats the Xeon Gold 6342 by 1.4%.

These deltas are small, but they indicate that the Xeon Gold 6342 sits in a competitive band where no single processor dominates by a wide margin. The single-core scores tell a similar story: the Xeon Gold 6342's 5649 in Cinebench R23 is respectable for a server chip, but it is not a specialist in lightly-threaded tasks. The multi-core results are where this processor justifies its existence; the 40014-point Cinebench R23 score is the headline number, showing that heavily parallel workloads will see substantial throughput.

Power and Thermals

The Xeon Gold 6342 carries a TDP of 230 watts. This is a high-power part, and it demands a cooling solution that can handle sustained load without throttling. The 230W figure places it firmly in the territory of serious workstation or server cooling: a capable air cooler with a large heatsink and robust fan, or more likely a liquid cooler, is appropriate. The 10 nm process node from Intel helps manage thermals, but the physical reality of 24 active cores drawing this much power means that case airflow and cooler mounting are not afterthoughts.

For a system builder, the implication is straightforward: do not pair this CPU with a small low-profile cooler. The thermal envelope is designed for chassis with direct airflow paths, such as rack-mount servers or large tower workstations. The TDP also indicates that power delivery on the motherboard must be solid; a board with weak VRM cooling could struggle to maintain boost clocks under all-core loads, although the base clock of 2.80 GHz and boost clock of 3.50 GHz are modest enough that power spikes should be manageable.

Platform and Compatibility

The Xeon Gold 6342 uses the Intel Socket 4189 platform, which is exclusive to Xeon Ice Lake-SP processors. This is not a consumer socket; it requires a server-class motherboard with the appropriate chipset and power delivery. Memory support is DDR4, running across an eight-channel bus, which provides a theoretical memory bandwidth of 204.8 GB/s. ECC memory is supported, which is a key requirement for reliability in server and workstation environments where data corruption is unacceptable.

PCIe support is Gen 4, with 64 lanes available from the CPU itself. This is a significant amount of I/O bandwidth, suitable for multiple GPUs, NVMe storage arrays, or high-speed network cards. The 64 lanes are CPU-only, so no chipset lanes are counted in that figure. The platform is built for expandability, and the eight-channel memory controller means that populating all channels with DDR4 modules is necessary to achieve the full 204.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Upgrade path is limited by the socket. The Intel Socket 4189 is tied to the Ice Lake-SP generation, so users are locked into that generation of Xeon Gold or Xeon Platinum parts. There is no forward compatibility with newer sockets. This is typical for server platforms, where the motherboard and CPU are often replaced together, but it is worth noting for anyone planning a long-term deployment.

How It Compares

Intel Core i7-4790: The Xeon Gold 6342 is 0.7% ahead of this older quad-core part in average score. That margin is negligible, but it is telling: the i7-4790 relies on high per-core clocks from the Haswell era, while the Xeon Gold 6342 uses 24 cores. In multi-threaded workloads, the Xeon Gold 6342 will crush the i7-4790, but in single-threaded tasks, the gap is far smaller than the core count difference suggests.

AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7945: The Xeon Gold 6342 leads this rival by 0.9% in average score. The Ryzen 9 PRO 7945 is a modern 12-core part aimed at professional laptops and small workstations, so the Xeon Gold 6342's advantage comes from having twice the cores. The small delta indicates that the Ryzen 9 PRO 7945 has much higher per-core efficiency, but the Xeon Gold 6342 wins on raw throughput.

Intel Core i7-4790K: This is the only rival that beats the Xeon Gold 6342, by 1.4%. The i7-4790K is an unlocked quad-core with high clocks, and its average score of 11738 edges out the Xeon Gold 6342's 11574. That result is heavily weighted by single-thread performance, where the i7-4790K excels. In any multi-core benchmark, the Xeon Gold 6342 will be far ahead, but the average score masks that reality.

AMD EPYC 73F3: The Xeon Gold 6342 is 2.1% ahead of this EPYC part. The EPYC 73F3 is a server CPU with 16 cores, so the Xeon Gold 6342's 24 cores give it a natural advantage in threaded workloads. The 2.1% delta is modest, suggesting that the EPYC 73F3 has higher clock speeds or better IPC, but the Xeon Gold 6342 still comes out on top in the aggregate.

Who Should Consider It

The Xeon Gold 6342 is for workloads that scale with core count. Video rendering, 3D simulation, scientific computing, and virtual machine hosting are the primary use cases. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40014 is a strong indicator for these tasks; any software that can utilize 48 threads will see substantial gains over a typical desktop processor. The 71st percentile ranking confirms that it is above average, but not at the very top of the heap, so it is not the absolute fastest option available.

For gaming, this is not the right choice. The single-core score of 5649 in Cinebench R23 is adequate, but games rarely use more than a few cores, and the 230W TDP is excessive for a gaming rig. A consumer desktop chip would be more practical. For office work and general productivity, the Xeon Gold 6342 is overkill; the eight-channel memory and 64 PCIe lanes are unused in such scenarios, and the high power draw is a downside.

Content creation is a mixed bag. If the workflow involves heavy multi-threaded tasks like video exports or 3D rendering, the Xeon Gold 6342 delivers. If the workflow is dominated by single-threaded plugins or light editing, the performance will be good but not exceptional. The ideal buyer is someone running a server or workstation that is constantly under a multi-threaded load, where the 24 cores and 204.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are fully utilized.

FAQ

Q: What is the core and thread count of the Intel Xeon Gold 6342?

A: It has 24 cores and 48 threads.

Q: What memory type and bus width does it support?

A: It supports DDR4 memory on an eight-channel bus, with a theoretical bandwidth of 204.8 GB/s.

Q: How does it compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 7945?

A: The Xeon Gold 6342 has an average benchmark score of 11574, which is 0.9% higher than the Ryzen 9 PRO 7945's 11469.

Q: What is the TDP and what cooling does it require?

A: The TDP is 230 watts, which requires a high-performance cooler suitable for server or workstation CPUs.

Q: Does it support ECC memory?

A: Yes, ECC memory is supported.

Q: What PCIe version and lane count does it provide?

A: It provides 64 PCIe Gen 4 lanes from the CPU.

Q: What is its single-core performance in Cinebench R23?

A: It scores 5649 points in Cinebench R23 single-core.