UserBenchmark: Intel Core i7-3960X vs i7-4790K

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IntelBX80646I74790K

$348

IntelBX80619I73960X

BUY • $265

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 457,911 user samples

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455,746 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 87% Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 4.6 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 67% Base clock 4 GHz, turbo 0.7 GHz (avg)

Poor: 67% Great: 87%

SPEED RANK: 251^st / 1442

Gaming 79%

Battleship

Desktop 83%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 65%

Destroyer

2,165 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 89% Base clock 3.3 GHz
Worst Bench: 66% Base clock 3.3 GHz, turbo 0.85 GHz (avg)

Poor: 66% Great: 89%

SPEED RANK: 270^th / 1442

Gaming 78%

Battleship

Desktop 79%

Battleship

Workstation 67%

Battle cruiser


Effective Speed Effective CPU Speed		78.9 %	+2%		77.7 %


Memory Avg. Memory Latency	88.1 Pts	+1%	87.1 Pts
1-Core Avg. Single Core Speed	114 Pts	Faster single-core speed. +18%	96.7 Pts
2-Core Avg. Dual Core Speed	216 Pts	Faster dual-core speed. +12%	192 Pts
4-Core Avg. Quad Core Speed	378 Pts	+2%	369 Pts
8-Core Avg. Octa Core Speed	560 Pts		585 Pts	+4%


Memory OC Memory Latency	96.8 Pts	+2%	95.3 Pts
1-Core OC Single Core Speed	128 Pts	Slightly faster OC single-core speed. +8%	118 Pts
2-Core OC Dual Core Speed	248 Pts	Slightly faster OC dual-core speed. +6%	233 Pts
4-Core OC Quad Core Speed	433 Pts		457 Pts	Slightly faster OC quad-core speed. +6%
8-Core OC Octa Core Speed	643 Pts		715 Pts	Faster OC octa-core speed. +11%

Market Share

Based on 67,739,090 CPUs tested

See market share leaders


Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.59 %	Insanely higher market share. +∞%	0 %
Value Value For Money	74.2 %		78.7 %	Slightly better value. +6%
User Rating UBM User Rating	88 %	Much more popular. +66%	53 %
Price Price (score)	$348		$265	Cheaper. +24%


Age Newest	118 Months	More recent. +22%	151 Months
TDP Thermal Design Power (TDP)	88 Watts	Much more energy efficient. +32%	130 Watts
Cores CPU Processing Cores	4 cores		6 cores	Much higher core count. +50%
Threads CPU Processing Threads	8 threads		12 threads	Much higher thread count. +50%
Lithography Manufacturing process	22 nm	Much newer manufacturing. +31%	32 nm
Base Clock Base Clock Speed	4 GHz	Faster base frequency. +21%	3.3 GHz
Turbo Clock Turbo Clock Speed	4.4 GHz	Faster turbo frequency. +13%	3.9 GHz
64-Core OC Multi Core Speed	654 Pts		888 Pts	Much faster OC 64-core speed. +36%
64-Core Avg. Multi Core Speed	573 Pts		728 Pts	Faster 64-core speed. +27%


Series CPU Architecture	Haswell	Sandy Bridge-E
Socket Motherboard Socket	FCLGA1150	FCLGA2011
Graphics Integrated Graphics	HD 4600	None
Launch Date Launch Date	Q2'14	Q4'11
Cache Cache	8 MB SmartCache	15 MB SmartCache
Instruction Set Extensions Instruction Set Extensions	SSE4.1/4.2, AVX 2.0	SSE4.2, AVX, AES
Lithography Lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Recommended Price Recommended Customer Price	$339.00 - $350.00	N/A
Max Turbo Frequency Max Turbo Frequency	4.4 GHz	3.9 GHz
Max Memory Size Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type)	32 GB	64 GB
Memory Types Memory Types	DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V	DDR3 1066/1333/1600
Memory Channels Max # of Memory Channels	2	4
Memory Bandwidth Max Memory Bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	51.2 GB/s
Package Size Package Size	37.5mm x 37.5mm	52.5mm x 45.0mm
PCI Express Revision PCI Express Revision	3.0	2.0
Max # of PCI Express Lanes Max # of PCI Express Lanes	16	40
	More specs »	More specs »

The Intel Core i7-4790K, codenamed Devil's Canyon, is an upgraded 4770K, Intel's current flagship i7. The 4790K features an improved thermal interface which enables it to dissipate heat more efficiently than the 4770K. Comparing the 4770K and 4790K shows that stock performance has improved by 13% which is consistent with the base clock jump from 3.5 GHz to 4.0 GHz. OC performance remains unchanged. Comparing the 4790K and 4790 shows that at stock clocks the 4790K is around 16% faster which considering the small price difference makes the 4790K a far better choice. Previously Intel targeted the unlocked K versions at overclockers but with Devil's Canyon they have included VT-d on the K chip and this time it's squarely aimed at both power users and overclockers alike. Until the release of Broadwell in six months, the 4790K is the high end CPU of choice. ^{[Jul '14 CPUPro]}

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The fact that the near three year old Intel i7-3960X still tops the speed charts reflects just how little competition there is in the CPU market. Intel have dominated for so long that there is simply no economic incentive to push the speed boundaries at anywhere nearly the pace of improvement we saw in previous years. The i7-3960X has 6 cores and 12 threads which is two cores more than the vast majority of Intel's other top end processors. The extra two cores explain why the 3960X still performs so well compared to the majority of the 3960X's newer siblings. This processor will offer little more than a far cheaper i3 to regular desktop users but for server orientated workloads it is still one of the best processors available. ^{[Mar '14 CPUPro]}

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $274	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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