Core i7 5960X vs. 4960X Performance Comparison
Always look at the date when you read an article. Some of the content in this article is most likely out of date, as it was written on August 29, 2014. For newer information, see our more recent articles.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Typically, a new CPUs is faster than it’s predecessor – it is just a question of whether is it by a little or a lot. The new Intel 5960X, however, is not typical because it sacrifices clock speed in order to add more cores. More cores is definitely better from a forward-thinking standpoint, but currently there is a lot of software that is not coded very well for multithreading so the drop in clock speed may cause a drop in performance.
The Intel Core i7 5960X is an eight core 3.0GHz CPU that has a maximum turbo boost of 3.5GHz. This means that while it has two more cores than the Core i7 4960X, it also has a .5-. 6GHz drop in clock speed.
| CPU Specifications | 5960X | 5930K | 4960X |
| Cores/Threads | 8/16 | 6/12 | 6/12 |
| Clock Speed | 3.0GHz | 3.5GHz | 3.6GHz |
| Max Turbo Boost | 3.5GHz | 3.7GHz | 4.0GHz |
| L2 Cache | 8 x 256KB | 6 x 256KB | 6 x 256KB |
| Smart Cache | 20MB | 15MB | 15MB |
| PCI-E Lanes | 40 PCI-E 3.0 | 40 PCI-E 3.0 | 40 PCI-E 3.0 |
In this article we want to run a wide variety of benchmarks to find out what applications benefit from the additional cores and which suffer from the drop in clock speed.
In order to provide another point of comparison, we will also be including the new Intel Core i7 5930K in our testing. It doesn’t have quite as high of a clock speed as the 4960X, but it is high enough that with the other improvements in Haswell-E and X99 it may actually outperform the 4960X.
It’s worth pointing out that while we are primarily focusing on the CPU, Haswell-E uses the new X99 chipset which includes many improvements including DDR4 support. So in addition to the CPU itself, the chipset and DDR4 RAM may very well affect our benchmarks. For more information on what is new in Haswell-E and X99 we recommend reading our X79 vs X99: What is new in X99 and Haswell-E article.
Test Setup
To benchmark these CPUs, we used the following hardware:
For the majority of our testing, we used two systems to expedite our testing. For the thermal and power draw portions, however, we used the exact same CPU cooler, chassis, and power supply to remove as many variables as possible.
For the duration of our testing, the CPU fan was set to the standard QFan profile and the chassis fans were run at 5v.
All Windows, driver, and software updates were applied prior to testing.
Synthetic & Scientific Benchmarks
Starting with the single core portion of GeekBench 3, we see the first evidence of performance issues with the 5960X. Since it only has a clock speed of 3.0-3.5 GHz, it has a lower GeekBench score than either the 5930K or 4960X. What is interesting is that the 5930K outperforms the 4960X even though it’s maximum turbo frequency is .4 GHz lower. This is a good sign for the Haswell-E architecture as a whole and suggests that the 5930K may outperform both the 5960X and 4960X in single-threaded applications.
One thing we want to point out is the low memory score on both the 5960X and 5930K. These CPUs use the new DDR4 memory running at 2133MHz versus the DDR3 memory running at 1600MHz we used with the 4960X. One benchmark is obviously not conclusive, but this does suggest that DDR4 memory might not have much of a performance advantage over DDR3 quite yet.
Moving on to the multi core portion of GeekBench 3, we see where the 5960X really shines. With eight cores, it easily outperforms both the 5930K and 4960X. Interestingly, the 5930K performs about the same as the 4960X in this test even though its single core performance was better.
Unlike the single core benchmark results, the memory score with DDR4 on the Haswell-E CPUs is actually higher than the 4960X.
CineBench R15 is a great rendering benchmark based on MAXON’s CINEMA 4D software that measures single and multi core performance as well as OpenGL graphics performance. In this benchmark, all three CPUs get effectively the same score on the single core portion of the benchmark, but the 5960X really pulls ahead in the multi core portion.
The OpenGL portion of CineBench is supposed to measure the performance of the GPU so we didn’t expect to see much difference between the three CPUs. Oddly, both of the Haswell-E CPUs outperformed the 4960X by a healthy margin.
This may just be an aberration, or it may be an indicator that GPU intensive tasks might see a benefit when using a Haswell-E CPU.
Linpack is a standard benchmark in the scientific community that measures a system’s floating point computing power. This benchmark can take advantage of the AVX2 instruction set that is included in Haswell-E which is clearly shown by the large increase in performance. The 5930K is anywhere from 27-75% faster than the 4960X and the 5960X is anywhere from 45-114% faster depending on the problem size.
This is amazing for the scientific community, but we want to be clear that for the average user this is not really an indicator that Haswell-E will double your performance. To find out how much of a performance increase you could expect in a variety of situations, lets move on to some real-world benchmarks.
Application Benchmarks
To benchmark the performance of Photoshop, we applied a number of effects to both a 110MB and 1GB image and recorded how long it took for each effect to finish.
These effects include CMYK Color Conversion, RGB Color Conversion, Ink Outlines, Dust and Scratches, Watercolor, Stained Glass, Lighting Effects, Mosaic Tiles, Extrude, Smart Blur, UnderPainting, Palette Knife, and Sponge.
The 110MB image shows roughly a 5% drop in performance with the Haswell-E CPUs compared to the 4960X. The 1GB image also shows a drop in performance, but the 5960X is a bit better than the 5930K. What this means is that if you use Photoshop a lot and already have a 4960X CPU, you probably should not upgrade to a Haswell-E CPU.
Unlike Photoshop, Premiere Pro appears to like the new Haswell-E CPUs. The parts of the benchmark that uses GPU acceleration doesn’t show much difference between the three CPUs, but the portion that is CPU only shows almost a 30% performance increase with the 5960X compared the the 4960X. The 5930K is also better than the 4960X, but only by about 5%.
The Cadalyst benchmark for AutoCAD 2015 is interesting because it shows a slight performance increase with Haswell-E on the CPU and 2D Graphics tests, but a larger performance increase in the 3D Graphics portion.
This increase in 3D performance is reminiscent of the OpenGL performance in CineBench we saw earlier and is something we did not expect to see.
Encoding Benchmarks
Handbrake is an open source video transcoder that reports performance in the number of frames it is able to process per second. As you can see, the 5930K is almost identical in performance to the 4960X. The additional cores on the 5960X, on the other hand, give it a nice ~10% performance boost over the 4960X.
Unlike Handbrake, Lame is not multithreaded so the number of CPU cores you have does not affect performance. Because of this, both the 5930K and 5960X (both of which have a lower frequency than the 4960X) show about a 6-9% drop in relative performance.
Game Benchmarks
In our three gaming benchmarks, the 5930K performs almost identically to the 4960X. The 5960X, however, sees a very slight drop in performance of about 1%. This is a really small performance variance, so at least for these titles and settings it appears that Haswell-E (and consequently DDR4) does not offer any performance advantage for gaming right now.
Temperature & Power Draw
Haswell-E CPUs have a TDP of 140W so we expected them to run hotter than Ivy Bridge-E which has a TDP of only 130W. Interestingly, however, both the 5960X and 5930K ran cooler than the 4960X both at idle, high CPU load, and high CPU+GPU load.
Our test systems are using QFan, however, so it is possible that the fan ramping is simply more aggressive on X99 than it is on X79:
At idle the CPU fan is running slower on Haswell-E so at least at that point Haswell-E is definitely cooler than Ivy Bridge-E. When running Prime95, the CPU fan is running a bit faster on the 5960X compared to the 4960X, but 55 RPM is nowhere near enough to account for the 5 °C reduction in temperature.
Prime95 + Furmark is about as heavy a load you can put on a system, and interestingly the X99 system ended up ramping up the CPU fan about 200 RPM faster than the X79 system. This indicates that our X99 motherboard has a bit more aggressive fan profile than our X79 board, but is once again not enough to account for the 6-7 °C drop in temperature.
In other words, even though Haswell-E has a higher TDP than Ivy Bridge-E, it appears that it actually runs cooler both at idle and load.
The total system power draw also surprised us a bit. We expected lower idle wattage since Haswell-E and X99 introduces a number of low power improvements (including DDR4), but the 30-40 watt drop in power draw under load is not something we expected.
Conclusion
Since Haswell-E sacrifices clock speed in exchange for more CPU cores, our benchmarks show two very different stories. Applications like Premiere Pro, AutoCAD, and HandBrake showed the benefits of the 8 cores on the 5960X, but others like Photoshop and Lame showed the downsides to the lower frequency found on Haswell-E. At the same time, our gaming benchmarks really didn’t seem to care what CPU we used since the GPU is by far a bigger factor in those games.
In addition, there are a couple of benchmarks that show the benefits of using the latest generation of CPU regardless of the frequency or core count.
For example, Linpack clearly shows the potential performance benefit of using the latest instruction sets. 350 GFlops is a very impressive Linpack score that until Haswell-E launched was frankly not possible with a single CPU system. In addition, the increased 3D performance in CineBench and AutoCAD is something we did not expect to see and is certainly due to something new in either the CPU, chipset, or possibly even from the new DDR4 memory.
While Haswell-E might not perform better than Ivy Bridge-E in all applications, the one area it is definitely better is in temperature and power draw. With the higher TDP we expected Haswell-E to run hotter than Ivy Bridge-E, so a 5-7 °C drop in temperature is a very nice unexpected surprise. The lower system power draw was expected to a degree, but we only expected a 10-20 watt drop, not the 30-40 watt drop we actually recorded.
Overall, Haswell-E and X99 feel to us like a platform of the future. It may not outperform Ivy Bridge in all applications, but the eight cores on the 5960X and DDR4 support makes it a much more future-proof platform than Ivy Bridge-E.
In addition, the X99 chipset with native USB 3.0, ten SATA 6Gb/s, and M.2 support also leads itself to being a very forward-thinking platform. If you need the absolute best possible performance today, we highly recommend finding a benchmark for your specific application before deciding to use Haswell-E or Ivy Bridge-E. However, if you want a system that will last much longer and take advantage of future software improvements, Haswell-E is a much better choice in our opinion.
Tags: 4960X, 5930K, 5960X, Benchmark, Haswell-E, Ivy Bridge-E, X79, X99
Intel Core i7-4960X vs Intel Core i7-5960X: What is the difference?
44points
Intel Core i7-4960X
41points
Intel Core i7-5960X
Comparison winner
vs
66 facts in comparison
Intel Core i7-4960X
Intel Core i7-5960X
Why is Intel Core i7-4960X better than Intel Core i7-5960X?
- 0.5GHz higher turbo clock speed?
4GHzvs3.
5GHz - 10W lower TDP?
130Wvs140W - Has an unlocked multiplier?
- 128KB bigger L1 cache?
384KBvs256KB - 6 higher clock multiplier?
36vs30
Why is Intel Core i7-5960X better than Intel Core i7-4960X?
- 11.11% faster CPU speed?
8 x 3GHzvs6 x 3.6GHz - 267MHz higher ram speed?
2133MHzvs1866MHz - 4 more CPU threads?
16vs12 - 0.5MB bigger L2 cache?
2MBvs1.5MB - 1.67x higher PassMark result?
16059vs9628 - 5MB bigger L3 cache?
20MBvs15MB - 8.3GB/s more memory bandwidth?
68GB/svs59.7GB/s - 740million more transistors?
2600 millionvs1860 million
Which are the most popular comparisons?
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i7-4790K
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-5820K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Pentium N3710
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i7-4930K
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-6850k
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Atom C3758
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i9-9900K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i5-9400F
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-8700K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Celeron G1630
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-6900k
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i5-9600KF
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-6950X
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i9-9900K
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i5-9600K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i5-4440
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-9700K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
AMD Athlon 5150
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Price comparison
User reviews
Performance
CPU speed
6 x 3.
6GHz
8 x 3GHz
The CPU speed indicates how many processing cycles per second can be executed by a CPU, considering all of its cores (processing units). It is calculated by adding the clock rates of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors employing different microarchitectures, of each group of cores.
CPU threads
More threads result in faster performance and better multitasking.
turbo clock speed
3.5GHz
When the CPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
Has an unlocked multiplier
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier which makes them easy to overclock, allowing you to gain increased performance in games and other apps.
L2 cache
A larger L2 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L3 cache
A larger L3 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L1 cache
A larger L1 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
L2 core
0.25MB/core
0.25MB/core
More data can be stored in the L2 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
L3 core
2.5MB/core
2.5MB/core
More data can be stored in the L3 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
Benchmarks
PassMark result
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using multiple threads.
PassMark result (single)
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using a single thread.
Geekbench 5 result (multi)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor’s multi-core performance.
(Source: Primate Labs, 2023)
Cinebench R20 (multi) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU’s multi-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
Cinebench R20 (single) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU’s single-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
Geekbench 5 result (single)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor’s single-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2023)
Blender (bmw27) result
454.6seconds
Unknown.
Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The Blender (bmw27) benchmark measures the performance of a processor by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render the scene in less time.
Blender (classroom) result
1433.4seconds
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The Blender (classroom) benchmark measures the performance of a processor by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render the scene in less time.
performance per watt
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
This means the CPU is more efficient, giving a greater amount of performance for each watt of power used.
Integrated graphics
GPU clock speed
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
GPU turbo
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
When the GPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
GPU execution units
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
A graphics processing unit (GPU) with a greater number of execution units can deliver better graphics.
supported displays
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Using multiple displays you can create a larger workspace, making it easier to work across multiple apps.
DirectX version
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
DirectX is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
OpenGL version
∅
Not applicable
OpenGL is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
OpenCL version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Some apps use OpenCL to apply the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions introduce more functionality and better performance.
texture mapping units (TMUs)
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
TMUs take textures and map them to the geometry of a 3D scene. More TMUs will typically mean that texture information is processed faster.
render output units (ROPs)
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, writing the final pixel data to memory and carrying out other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the look of graphics.
Memory
RAM speed
1866MHz
2133MHz
It can support faster memory, which will give quicker system performance.
maximum memory bandwidth
59.7GB/s
68GB/s
This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.
DDR memory version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
DDR (Double Data Rate) memory is the most common type of RAM. Newer versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy-efficient.
memory channels
More memory channels increases the speed of data transfer between the memory and the CPU.
maximum memory amount
The maximum amount of memory (RAM) supported.
bus transfer rate
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
Supports ECC memory
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.
eMMC version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
A higher version of eMMC allows faster memory interfaces, having a positive effect on the performance of a device. For example, when transferring files from your computer to the internal storage over USB.
bus speed
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
Features
uses multithreading
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
Multithreading technology (such as Intel’s Hyperthreading or AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading) provides increased performance by splitting each of the processor’s physical cores into virtual cores, also known as threads. This way, each core can run two instruction streams at once.
Has AES
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
AES is used to speed up encryption and decryption.
Has AVX
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
AVX is used to help speed up calculations in multimedia, scientific and financial apps, as well as improving Linux RAID software performance.
SSE version
SSE is used to speed up multimedia tasks such as editing an image or adjusting audio volume. Each new version contains new instructions and improvements.
Has F16C
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
F16C is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting the contrast of an image or adjusting volume.
bits executed at a time
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
NEON provides acceleration for media processing, such as listening to MP3s.
Has MMX
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
MMX is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting the contrast of an image or adjusting volume.
Has TrustZone
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
A technology integrated into the processor to secure the device for use with features such as mobile payments and streaming video using digital rights management (DRM).
front-end width
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The CPU can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), meaning that the CPU performs better
Price comparison
Which are the best CPUs?
0026 4GHz vs 3.5GHz
130W vs 140W
384KB vs 256KB
36 vs 30
Why is Intel Core i7-5960X better than Intel Core i7-4960X?
- 11.11% higher CPU speed?
8 x 3GHz vs 6 x 3.6GHz - 267MHz higher RAM speed?
2133MHz vs 1866MHz - 4 more CPU threads?
16 vs 12 - 0.5MB more L2 cache?
2MB vs 1.
5MB - 1.67x higher PassMark score?
16059 vs 9628 - 5MB more L3 cache?
20MB vs 15MB - 8.3GB/s more memory bandwidth?
68GB/s vs 59.7GB/s - 740million more transistors?
2600 million vs 1860 million
Which comparisons are the most popular?
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Core i7-4790K
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
Intel Core i7-5820K
Intel Core i7-4960X
vs
Intel Pentium N3710
Intel Core i7-5960X
VS
AMD RYZEN 5 3600
Intel Core i7-4960x
VS
Intel Core i7-49302 Intel Core i7-5960x
I7-6850K
9000C 9000 Core I7-6850K 9000.
VS
Intel Atom C3758
Intel Core i7-5960x
VS
Intel Core i9-9900k
Intel Core i7-4960x
VS
Intel Core i5-9400f
vs
Intel Core i7-8700K
Intel Core i7-4960x
VS
Intel Celeron G1630
Intel Core i7-5960x
I7-6900K
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core i5-9600KF
Intel Core i7-5960x
VS
Intel Core i7-6950x
Intel Core i7-4960x
VS
Intel Core i9-9900k
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core
Intel Core i5-9600K
Intel Core i7-4960x
VS
Intel Core i5-4440
Intel Core i7-5960x
VS
Intel Core i7-4960X 9000 VS 9000 VS 9000 VS 9000 VS 9000 VS
Intel Core i7-5960X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Price Comparison
User Reviews
Performance
CPU Speed 9 GHz 6
0002 8 x 3GHz
CPU speed indicates how many processing cycles per second the processor can perform, considering all its cores (processors).
It is calculated by adding the clock speeds of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors, each group of cores.
processor thread
More threads result in better performance and better multitasking.
turbo clock speed
3.5GHz
When the processor is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
Has an unlocked multiplier
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier and can be easily overclocked for better performance in games and other applications.
L2 Cache
More L2 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
L3 cache
More L3 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
L1 cache
More L1 cache results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
L2 core
0.25MB/core
0.25MB/core
More data can be stored in L2 scratchpad for access by each processor core.
L3 core
2.5MB/core
2.5MB/core
More data can be stored in the L3 scratchpad for access by each processor core.
Geotagging
PassMark result
This benchmark measures CPU performance using multithreading.
PassMark result (single)
This benchmark measures processor performance using a thread of execution.
Geekbench 5 result (multi-core)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures multi-core processor performance.
(Source: Primate Labs, 2023)
Cinebench R20 result (multi-core)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark that measures the performance of a multi-core processor by rendering a 3D scene.
Cinebench R20 result (single core)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Cinebench R20 is a test to evaluate the performance of a single core processor when rendering a 3D scene.
Geekbench 5 result (single core)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform test that measures the single-core performance of a processor. (Source: Primate Labs, 2023)
Blender test result (bmw27)
454.
6seconds
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The Blender benchmark (bmw27) measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.
Blender (classroom) result
1433.4seconds
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The Blender (classroom) benchmark measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.
performance per watt
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
This means that the processor is more efficient, resulting in more performance per watt of power used.
Integrated graphics
GPU clock speed
∅
N/A
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
Turbo GPU
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
When the GPU is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
GPU actuators
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
A graphics processing unit (GPU) with more execution units can provide better graphics.
monitor support
∅
N/A
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
By using multiple displays, you can expand your workspace, making it easier to work across multiple applications.
DirectX version
∅
Not applicable
Unknown.
Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
DirectX is used in games with a new version that supports better graphics.
OpenGL version
∅
N/A
The newer the OpenGL version, the better the graphics in games.
OpenCL version
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
Some applications use OpenCL to use the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions are more functional and better quality.
texture units (TMUs)
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
TMUs take texture units and map them to the geometric layout of the 3D scene. More TMUs generally means texture information is processed faster.
ROPs imaging units
∅
Not applicable
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, such as writing the final pixel data to memory and for performing other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the appearance of graphics.
Memory
RAM speed
1866MHz
2133MHz
Can support faster memory which speeds up system performance.
maximum memory bandwidth
59.7GB/s
68GB/s
This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.
DDR memory version
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
DDR (Dynamic Dynamic Random Access Memory, Double Data Rate) is the most common type of RAM. New versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy efficient.
memory channels
More memory channels increase the speed of data transfer between memory and processor.
maximum memory
Maximum memory (RAM).
bus baud rate
The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device.
Supports memory troubleshooting code
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
Memory troubleshooting code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.
eMMC version
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The newer version of eMMC — built-in flash memory card — speeds up the memory interface, has a positive effect on device performance, for example, when transferring files from a computer to internal memory via USB.
bus frequency
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device
Functions
uses multi-threading
, Intel’s Hyperthreading or AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading) delivers faster performance by dividing each physical processor core into logical cores, also known as threads. Thus, each core can run two instruction streams at the same time.
Has AES
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
AES is used to speed up encryption and decryption.
Has AVX
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
AVX is used to help speed up calculations in multimedia, scientific and financial applications, and to improve the performance of the Linux RAID program.
version of SSE
SSE is used to speed up multimedia tasks such as editing images or adjusting audio volume. Each new version contains new instructions and improvements.
Has F16C
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
F16C is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting image contrast or adjusting volume.
bits transmitted at the same time
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
NEON provides faster media processing such as MP3 listening.
Has MMX
✔Intel Core i7-4960X
✔Intel Core i7-5960X
MMX is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting image contrast or adjusting volume.
Has TrustZone
✖Intel Core i7-4960X
✖Intel Core i7-5960X
Technology is integrated into the processor to ensure device security when using features such as mobile payments and digital rights management (DRM) video streaming .
interface width
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-4960X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-5960X)
The processor can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), which means that the processor performs better
Price comparison
Which CPUs are better?
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i7-5960X vs i7-4960X — Battlefield 4 vs R5 performance comparison
R5 with
Intel Core i7-5960X @ 3.00GHz
Battlefield 4
R5 with
Intel Core i7-4960X @ 3.60GHz
i7-5960X
i7-4
Ultra quality
| Resolution | Frames per second |
|---|---|
| 1080p |
30. |
| 1080p |
31.3 FPS |
| 1440p | |
| 1440p | |
| 2160p | |
| 2160p | |
| w1440p | |
| w1440p |
9 FPS High quality
| Resolution | Frames per second |
|---|---|
| 1080p |
57.8 FPS |
| 1080p |
58.4 FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
Medium quality
| Resolution | Frames per second |
|---|---|
| 1080p |
84. |
| 1080p |
85.5 FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
6 FPS Low quality
| Resolution | Frames per second |
|---|---|
| 1080p |
138.3 FPS |
| 1080p |
139.7 FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 1440p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| 2160p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
| w1440p |
nan FPS |
i7-5960X
- The i7-5960X has a higher L3 cache.
This is useful when you have significant multi-processor workloads, many computational processes at the same time. Rather on a server rather than a personal computer for interactive workloads. - The i7-5960X has more cores. The advantage of having more cores is that the system can handle more threads. Each core can process a separate data stream. This architecture greatly improves the performance of a system running parallel applications.
- The i7-5960X has more themes. Large programs are divided into threads (small sections) so that the processor can execute them simultaneously to speed up execution.
i7-4960X
- In some games, a processor with a higher clock speed, or with the technical name IPC (Instructions per clock), performs better than other processors with more cores and a lower core frequency.
- i7-4960X The i7-4960X is more energy efficient and generates less heat.
- The i7-4960X has a higher turbo clock. Turbo Boost is a processor feature that will run at a processor clock speed faster than its base clock speed if certain conditions are present.
This will allow older software that runs on fewer cores to run better on newer hardware. Since games are also software, they are also applicable.
Compare i7-5960X vs i7-4960X specifications
i7-5960X vs i7-4960X Architecture
| i7-5960X | i7-4960X | |
|---|---|---|
| Codename | Haswell-E | Ivy Bridge-E |
| Generation | Core i7 (Haswell-E EE) |
Core i7 (Ivy Bridge-E EE) |
| Market | Desktop | Desktop |
| Memory Support | DDR4 | DDR3 |
| Part# | SR20Q | SR1AS |
| Production Status | Active | Active |
| Released | Sep 2014 | Sep 2013 |
i7-5960X vs i7-4960X Cache
| i7-5960X | i7-4960X | |
|---|---|---|
| Cache L1 | 64K (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| Cache L2 | 256K (per core) | 256K (per core) |
| Cache L3 | 20MB (shared) | 15MB (shared) |
i7-5960X vs i7-4960X Cores
| i7-5960X | i7-4960X | |
|---|---|---|
| # of Cores | 8 | 6 |
| # of Threads | 16 | 12 |
| Integrated Graphics | N/A | N/A |
| SMP# CPUs | 1 | 1 |
i7-5960X vs i7-4960X Features
| i7-5960X | i7-4960X | |
|---|---|---|
| MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4. 
|