UserBenchmark: Intel Core i7-6950X vs i9-7900X

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IntelBX80671I76950X

BUY • $499

IntelBX80673I97900X

BUY • $420

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 25,567 user samples

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6,135 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 100% Base clock 3 GHz, turbo 4.55 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 77% Base clock 3 GHz, turbo 1.25 GHz (avg)

Poor: 77% Great: 100%

SPEED RANK: 164^th / 1442

Gaming 87%

Aircraft carrier

Desktop 86%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 90%

Aircraft carrier

19,432 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 92% Base clock 3.3 GHz, turbo 4.95 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 72% Base clock 3.3 GHz, turbo 0.7 GHz (avg)

Poor: 72% Great: 92%

SPEED RANK: 209^th / 1442

Gaming 82%

Aircraft carrier

Desktop 83%

Aircraft carrier

Workstation 89%

Aircraft carrier


Effective Speed Effective CPU Speed		86.8 %	Slightly faster effective speed. +6%		81.9 %


Memory Avg. Memory Latency	88.2 Pts	Lower memory latency. +16%	76.1 Pts
1-Core Avg. Single Core Speed	114 Pts		123 Pts	Slightly faster single-core speed. +8%
2-Core Avg. Dual Core Speed	228 Pts		243 Pts	Slightly faster dual-core speed. +7%
4-Core Avg. Quad Core Speed	458 Pts		470 Pts	+3%
8-Core Avg. Octa Core Speed	884 Pts		898 Pts	+2%


Memory OC Memory Latency	95.9 Pts	Slightly lower OC memory latency. +9%	87.6 Pts
1-Core OC Single Core Speed	142 Pts	+3%	138 Pts
2-Core OC Dual Core Speed	283 Pts	+3%	276 Pts
4-Core OC Quad Core Speed	565 Pts	+3%	548 Pts
8-Core OC Octa Core Speed	1118 Pts	+5%	1069 Pts

Market Share

Based on 67,748,332 CPUs tested

See market share leaders


Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.01 %		0.05 %	Hugely higher market share. +400%
Value Value For Money	73.9 %	+1%	73.1 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	62 %	More popular. +13%	55 %
Price Price (score)	$499		$420	Cheaper. +16%


Age Newest	94 Months	81 Months	More recent. +14%
TDP Thermal Design Power (TDP)	140 Watts	140 Watts
Cores CPU Processing Cores	10 cores	10 cores
Threads CPU Processing Threads	20 threads	20 threads
Lithography Manufacturing process	14 nm	14 nm
Base Clock Base Clock Speed	3 GHz	3.8 GHz	Faster base frequency. +27%
Turbo Clock Turbo Clock Speed	4 GHz	4.3 GHz	Slightly faster turbo frequency. +8%
64-Core OC Multi Core Speed	1799 Pts	1853 Pts	+3%
64-Core Avg. Multi Core Speed	1470 Pts	1589 Pts	Slightly faster 64-core speed. +8%


Series CPU Architecture	Broadwell-E	Skylake-X
Socket Motherboard Socket	LGA2011-V3	LGA2066
Graphics Integrated Graphics	None	None
Launch Date Launch Date	Q2'16	Q2'17
Cache Cache	25 MB	13.75 MB L3
Recommended Price Recommended Customer Price	N/A	$989.00 - $999.00
Max Turbo Frequency Max Turbo Frequency	4 GHz	4.30 GHz
Memory Types Memory Types	DDR4 2400/2133	DDR4-2666
Max # of PCI Express Lanes Max # of PCI Express Lanes	40	44
	More specs »	More specs »

The Core i7-6950X is Intel’s new top of the range prosumer CPU. This flagship model has a whopping ten cores with base and turbo frequencies of 3.0 and 4.0 GHz respectively. The 6950X is based on the 14 nm Broadwell-E architecture. It has a TDP of 140 watts, 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes and no integrated graphics. Because of its ridiculously high MSRP of around $2,000, this CPU only makes sense for very niche use cases which could include top end graphics design or video production workstations. Comparing the 6950X and 6700K shows that for typical desktop use the 6950X only offers a gain of around 20% for a whopping 6 fold price increase. This is because desktop computing largely depends on single core performance and the Skylake i7-6700K is both clocked higher and has higher IPC due to its one generation lead over the 6950X. That said, if you want the most powerful desktop processor money can buy, then the 6950X hits the spot. ^{[Jun '16 CPUPro]}

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Intel’s core i9-7900X, from the Skylake-X series, is Intel’s latest 10-core, 20-thread flagship processor. It's the first to bear the i9 moniker and utilize the new X299 (Basin Falls) chipset/motherboard. The 7900X is the fastest CPU on the market today, however, imminent competition from AMD’s 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen Threadripper CPUs and the forthcoming release of more Intel Core X series mean that its reign will be a short one. The i9-7900X supersedes the 10-core Broadwell-E core i7-6950X that held the crown for little over a year. Both are extremely powerful and pricey high end desktop processors (HEDTs) which excel in multi-threaded tasks such as media encoding. However, despite the same power draw (TDP 140W), the newer i9-7900X betters the i7-6950X in terms of peak overclocked performance by 10% mostly thanks to increased clock speeds from 3.0GHz/4.0GHz to 3.3GHz/4.3GHz for base/turbo. It also betters the i7-6950X on price by around 28%. This all translates to the i9-7900X offering around 20% more value for money, even despite its eye-watering $999 price tag. The more accessible pricing (albeit not accessible for the majority) and hurried release of the i9-7900k to market is widely perceived as a reaction to AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper CPUs, rumoured for release towards the end of July 2017. So if you want to own the fastest consumer CPU in the world, it would be wise to wait for the dust to settle. ^{[Jul '17 CPUPro]}

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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]

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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) $48	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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