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.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, productivity performance, platform differences, power efficiency, pricing context, and upgrade path so you can see which CPU actually makes more sense.

Ryzen 9 5980HS

2021

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +26.2% higher average FPS across 48 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Draws 35W instead of 125W, a 90W reduction.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Xeon Gold 6138T needs a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,257 vs 20,356).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 28 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6138T, which brings 20 cores / 40 threads and 48 PCIe lanes.

Xeon Gold 6138T

2017

Why buy it

✅+0.5% higher PassMark.
✅+71.9% larger total L3 cache (28 MB vs 16 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 20 cores / 40 threads, plus 48 PCIe lanes vs 16.
✅200% more PCIe lanes (48 vs 16) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 9 5980HS across 48 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Launch MSRP is still $2,742 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌257.1% higher power demand at 125W vs 35W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HS can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Ryzen 9 5980HS

2021

Xeon Gold 6138T

2017

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +26.2% higher average FPS across 48 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Draws 35W instead of 125W, a 90W reduction.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Xeon Gold 6138T needs a discrete GPU.

Why buy it

✅+0.5% higher PassMark.
✅+71.9% larger total L3 cache (28 MB vs 16 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 20 cores / 40 threads, plus 48 PCIe lanes vs 16.
✅200% more PCIe lanes (48 vs 16) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,257 vs 20,356).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 28 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6138T, which brings 20 cores / 40 threads and 48 PCIe lanes.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 9 5980HS across 48 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Launch MSRP is still $2,742 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌257.1% higher power demand at 125W vs 35W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HS can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 9 5980HS better than Xeon Gold 6138T?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon Gold 6138T makes more sense for workstation-style multi-core throughput, while Ryzen 9 5980HS is the better mainstream desktop choice for gaming, platform cost, and day-to-day practicality.

Which one is better for streaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking?

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Xeon Gold 6138T is the better fit. You are getting 0.5% better PassMark, backed by 20 cores and 40 threads. It also carries the larger cache pool with 71.9% larger total L3 cache (28 MB vs 16 MB).

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper CPU?

Ryzen 9 5980HS is still the faster CPU overall, but Xeon Gold 6138T makes more sense if price matters more than absolute performance. Ryzen 9 5980HS is at an unclear MSRP at unclear MSRP versus $2,742 MSRP, and it gives you a 26.2% average FPS lead across 48 shared CPU game tests in our data. The trade-off is that Xeon Gold 6138T is still stronger for heavier multi-core work with 0.5% better PassMark. Xeon Gold 6138T is also 100.0% better value on MSRP (7.4 vs 0.0 PassMark/$), which is why it is easier to justify for price-conscious builds on paper.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Ryzen 9 5980HS is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2021 vs 2017). That makes it the safer long-term pick.

Games Benchmarks

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.

Ryzen 9 5980HS Benchmark Check

Xeon Gold 6138T Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
1080p
low	277 FPS	189 FPS
medium	250 FPS	153 FPS
high	210 FPS	123 FPS
ultra	180 FPS	96 FPS
1440p
low	241 FPS	149 FPS
medium	195 FPS	117 FPS
high	159 FPS	93 FPS
ultra	140 FPS	73 FPS
4K
low	168 FPS	69 FPS
medium	138 FPS	58 FPS
high	106 FPS	46 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	36 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon Gold 6138T

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
1080p
low	506 FPS	213 FPS
medium	464 FPS	188 FPS
high	390 FPS	161 FPS
ultra	342 FPS	136 FPS
1440p
low	485 FPS	184 FPS
medium	407 FPS	166 FPS
high	349 FPS	143 FPS
ultra	294 FPS	120 FPS
4K
low	334 FPS	120 FPS
medium	288 FPS	109 FPS
high	263 FPS	99 FPS
ultra	227 FPS	82 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon Gold 6138T

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
1080p
low	506 FPS	509 FPS
medium	506 FPS	509 FPS
high	506 FPS	495 FPS
ultra	506 FPS	429 FPS
1440p
low	506 FPS	509 FPS
medium	506 FPS	449 FPS
high	506 FPS	408 FPS
ultra	463 FPS	354 FPS
4K
low	506 FPS	399 FPS
medium	469 FPS	314 FPS
high	413 FPS	281 FPS
ultra	348 FPS	226 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon Gold 6138T

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
1080p
low	506 FPS	509 FPS
medium	506 FPS	509 FPS
high	506 FPS	509 FPS
ultra	506 FPS	509 FPS
1440p
low	506 FPS	509 FPS
medium	506 FPS	509 FPS
high	506 FPS	509 FPS
ultra	477 FPS	463 FPS
4K
low	506 FPS	496 FPS
medium	463 FPS	445 FPS
high	410 FPS	396 FPS
ultra	346 FPS	340 FPS

Open Ryzen 9 5980HS Open Xeon Gold 6138T

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 9 5980HS and Xeon Gold 6138T

Ryzen 9 5980HS

The Ryzen 9 5980HS is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 12 January 2021 (4 years ago). It is based on the Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021) architecture. It features 8 cores and 16 threads. Base frequency is 3 GHz, with boost up to 4.8 GHz. L3 cache: 16 MB (total). L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: FP6. Thermal design power (TDP): 35 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 20,257 points. Launch price was $299.

Xeon Gold 6138T

The Xeon Gold 6138T 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: 20,356 points. Launch price was $2,742.

⚡

Processing Power

The Ryzen 9 5980HS packs 8 cores / 16 threads, while the Xeon Gold 6138T offers 20 cores / 40 threads — the Xeon Gold 6138T has 12 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.8 GHz on the Ryzen 9 5980HS versus 3.7 GHz on the Xeon Gold 6138T — a 25.9% clock advantage for the Ryzen 9 5980HS (base: 3 GHz vs 2 GHz). The Ryzen 9 5980HS uses the Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021) architecture (7 nm), while the Xeon Gold 6138T uses Skylake (server) (2017−2018) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 9 5980HS scores 20,257 against the Xeon Gold 6138T's 20,356 — a 0.5% lead for the Xeon Gold 6138T. L3 cache: 16 MB (total) on the Ryzen 9 5980HS vs 27.5 MB on the Xeon Gold 6138T.

Feature	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	20 / 40+150%
Boost Clock	4.8 GHz+30%	3.7 GHz
Base Clock	3 GHz+50%	2 GHz
L3 Cache	16 MB (total)	27.5 MB+72%
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	20 MB+3900%
Process	7 nm-50%	14 nm
Architecture	Cezanne-HS (Zen 3) (2021)	Skylake (server) (2017−2018)
PassMark	20,257	20,356
Geekbench 6 Single	—	1,030
Geekbench 6 Multi	—	11,988

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 9 5980HS uses the FP6 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Xeon Gold 6138T uses LGA3647 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to LPDDR4-4266 memory speed. The Xeon Gold 6138T supports up to 768 GB of RAM compared to 32 GB — 184% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Ryzen 9 5980HS) vs 6 (Xeon Gold 6138T). PCIe lanes: 16 (Ryzen 9 5980HS) vs 48 (Xeon Gold 6138T) — the Xeon Gold 6138T offers 32 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Feature	Ryzen 9 5980HS	Xeon Gold 6138T
Socket	FP6	LGA3647
PCIe Generation	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	LPDDR4-4266	DDR4-2666
Max RAM Capacity	32 GB	768 GB+2300%
RAM Channels	2	6+200%
ECC Support	No	Yes
PCIe Lanes	16	48+200%

🔧

Advanced Features

Only the Xeon Gold 6138T supports AVX-512 instructions — important for machine learning and scientific applications. Virtualization support: AMD-V (Ryzen 9 5980HS) vs Yes (Xeon Gold 6138T). The Ryzen 9 5980HS includes integrated graphics (Radeon Graphics (8CU)), while the Xeon Gold 6138T requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Ryzen 9 5980HS targets Mobile High-End.