UserBenchmark: Intel Core i7-4960X vs i7-5960X

CPU
RANKINGS

TEST
YOUR CPU

ADD TO PC
BUILD

IntelBX80648I75960X

BUY • $285

IntelBX80633I74960X

$1,189

BenchYourCPU

Real World Speed

Performance profile from 20,589 user samples

Benchmark your CPU here

15,468 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 94% Base clock 3 GHz, turbo 4.8 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 70% Base clock 3 GHz, turbo 1.2 GHz (avg)

Poor: 70% Great: 94%

SPEED RANK: 228^th / 1442

Gaming 80%

Aircraft carrier

Desktop 80%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 77%

Battleship

5,121 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 88% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 4.4 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 70% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 1.65 GHz (avg)

Poor: 70% Great: 88%

SPEED RANK: 257^th / 1442

Gaming 78%

Battleship

Desktop 79%

Battleship

Workstation 69%

Battle cruiser


Effective Speed Effective CPU Speed		80.5 %	+3%		78.4 %


Memory Avg. Memory Latency	87 Pts	+1%	86.2 Pts
1-Core Avg. Single Core Speed	100 Pts	+2%	98 Pts
2-Core Avg. Dual Core Speed	201 Pts	+3%	196 Pts
4-Core Avg. Quad Core Speed	398 Pts	+4%	381 Pts
8-Core Avg. Octa Core Speed	718 Pts	Faster octa-core speed. +16%	619 Pts


Memory OC Memory Latency	95.3 Pts	+0%	95.2 Pts
1-Core OC Single Core Speed	128 Pts	Slightly faster OC single-core speed. +8%	118 Pts
2-Core OC Dual Core Speed	254 Pts	Slightly faster OC dual-core speed. +10%	231 Pts
4-Core OC Quad Core Speed	502 Pts	Faster OC quad-core speed. +12%	450 Pts
8-Core OC Octa Core Speed	920 Pts	Faster OC octa-core speed. +26%	728 Pts

Market Share

Based on 67,751,172 CPUs tested

See market share leaders


Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.02 %		0.02 %
Value Value For Money	79.9 %	Much better value. +52%	52.6 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	56 %	Slightly more popular. +8%	52 %
Price Price (score)	$285	Much cheaper. +76%	$1,189


Age Newest	116 Months	Slightly more recent. +9%	127 Months
TDP Thermal Design Power (TDP)	140 Watts		130 Watts	Slightly more energy efficient. +7%
Cores CPU Processing Cores	8 cores	Much higher core count. +33%	6 cores
Threads CPU Processing Threads	16 threads	Much higher thread count. +33%	12 threads
Lithography Manufacturing process	22 nm		22 nm
Base Clock Base Clock Speed	3 GHz		3.6 GHz	Faster base frequency. +20%
Turbo Clock Turbo Clock Speed	3.5 GHz		4 GHz	Faster turbo frequency. +14%
64-Core OC Multi Core Speed	1353 Pts	Much faster OC 64-core speed. +50%	905 Pts
64-Core Avg. Multi Core Speed	1075 Pts	Much faster 64-core speed. +39%	776 Pts


Series CPU Architecture	Haswell-E	Ivy Bridge-E
Socket Motherboard Socket	LGA2011-V3	FCLGA2011
Graphics Integrated Graphics	None	None
Launch Date Launch Date	Q3'14	Q3'13
Cache Cache	20 MB SmartCache	15 MB SmartCache
Instruction Set Extensions Instruction Set Extensions	SSE4.2, AVX 2.0, AES	SSE4.2, AVX, AES
Recommended Price Recommended Customer Price	$999.00 - $1059.00	N/A
Max Turbo Frequency Max Turbo Frequency	3.5 GHz	4 GHz
Bus Speed Bus Speed	0 GT/s	5 GT/s DMI2
Memory Types Memory Types	DDR4 1333/1600/2133	DDR3 1333/1600/1866
Memory Bandwidth Max Memory Bandwidth	68 GB/s	59.7 GB/s
	More specs »	More specs »

The Intel 5960X sports eight cores and sixteen threads. That's two more cores than we have ever seen on a consumer processor before and as such this $1,000 processor offers record breaking multi-threaded CPU horsepower. Unfortunately the 5960X is clocked at just 3 GHz base and 3.5 GHz turbo which, for single and dual-core workloads, renders it around 15% slower than a $69 G3258 on stock clocks! The 5960X is only compatible with Intel's new X99 chipset which requires new DDR4 RAM and is currently far more expensive, with little consumer benefit, than DDR3. All in all the i7-5960X processor is largely irrelevant for consumers as it's far far too expensive. ^{[Sep '14 CPUPro]}

MORE DETAILS

The Core i7-4960X is Intel's top of the range desktop processor which sports six physical and twelve hyper-threaded cores. The 4960X was released in 2013 but it uses an FCLGA2011 socket which is supported only by the X79 chipset and is now three years old. As a result an investment in this processor forgoes the last three years worth of platform advances which include, amongst other things, on-board USB 3.0 and additional SATA 600 MB/s ports. Comparing the 4960X and the 4930K shows that when overclocked, the 4930K is able to best the extreme 4960X at nearly half the price! Finally comparing the latest Haswell 4770K to the 4960X shows that 4770K is again able to best the 4960X, this time at a small fraction of the price. The 4960X is significantly overpriced and there is far better value available elsewhere. ^{[Mar '14 CPUPro]}

MORE DETAILS

Systems with these CPUs

Top Builds that include these CPUs

Custom PC Builder (Start a new build) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

CPU

GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

MBD

Processor Rankings (Price vs Performance) April 2024 CPU Rankings

We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. ^[CPUPro]

Group Test Results

Best user rated - User sentiment trumps benchmarks for this comparison.
Best value for money - Value for money is based on real world performance.
Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.

How Fast Is Your CPU? (Bench your build) Size up your PC in less than a minute

Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.

UserBenchmark of the month

Gaming

Desktop

ProGaming

CPU

GPU

SSD

HDD

RAM

USB

How it works

- Download and run UserBenchmark
- CPU tests include: integer, floating and string
- GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations
- Drive tests include: read, write, sustained write and mixed IO
- RAM tests include: single/multi core bandwidth and latency
- SkillBench (space shooter) tests user input accuracy
- Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com
- Identify the strongest components in your PC
- See speed test results from other users
- Compare your components to the current market leaders
- Explore your best upgrade options with a virtual PC build
- Compare your in-game FPS to other users with your hardware

Frequently Asked Questions

Processors FAQ

AMD vs Intel: Gaming performance 2012-2021

How does IPC compare between AMD's Ryzen and Intel's Kaby Lake?

What is multi core mixed speed?

What is multi core integer speed?

What is multi core floating point speed?

What is single core mixed CPU speed?

What is quad core mixed CPU speed?

What is quad core floating point speed?

What is quad core integer speed?

What is single core floating point speed?

What is single core integer speed?

What is the GeekBench single core score?

What is a CPU?

What is the effective CPU speed index?

What is overclocking?

What is thermal design power (TDP)?

ALL FAQs »

CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177	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

MORE DETAILS

MORE DETAILS

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

Group Test Results

UserBenchmark of the month

How it works

Frequently Asked Questions

Best User Rated

Feedback