IntelBX80619I73960X
IntelBX80684I58600K

6 Cores, 12 Threads @3.3GHz, Sandy Bridge-E.
Release date: Q3 2011.

6 Cores, 6 Threads @3.6GHz, Coffee Lake.
Release date: Q4 2017.

Real World Speed
Performance profile from 267,002 user samples
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: 270th / 1442
Gaming
Gaming 78%
Battleship
Desktop
Desktop 79%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 67%
Battle cruiser
264,837 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 101% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 4.95 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 79% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 4.05 GHz (avg)
Poor: 79% Great: 101%
SPEED RANK: 136th / 1442
Gaming
Gaming 91%
Nuclear submarine
Desktop
Desktop 92%
Nuclear submarine
Workstation
Workstation 74%
Battleship
Effective Speed
Effective CPU Speed
77.7 % 90.7 % Faster effective speed.
+17%
Memory
Avg. Memory Latency
87.1 Pts 90.1 Pts +3%
1-Core
Avg. Single Core Speed
96.7 Pts 129 Pts Much faster single-core speed.
+33%
2-Core
Avg. Dual Core Speed
192 Pts 257 Pts Much faster dual-core speed.
+34%
4-Core
Avg. Quad Core Speed
369 Pts 502 Pts Much faster quad-core speed.
+36%
8-Core
Avg. Octa Core Speed
585 Pts 656 Pts Faster octa-core speed.
+12%
Memory
OC Memory Latency
95.3 Pts 96.5 Pts +1%
1-Core
OC Single Core Speed
118 Pts 151 Pts Faster OC single-core speed.
+28%
2-Core
OC Dual Core Speed
233 Pts 302 Pts Faster OC dual-core speed.
+30%
4-Core
OC Quad Core Speed
457 Pts 594 Pts Faster OC quad-core speed.
+30%
8-Core
OC Octa Core Speed
715 Pts 798 Pts Faster OC octa-core speed.
+12%
Market Share
Based on 67,748,817 CPUs tested
Market Share
Market Share (trailing 30 days)
0 % 0.49 % Insanely higher market share.
+∞%
Value
Value For Money
78.7 % 103 % Much better value.
+31%
User Rating
UBM User Rating
53 % 78 % Much more popular.
+47%
Price
Price (score)
$265 $173 Much cheaper.
+35%
Age
Newest
151 Months 78 Months Much more recent.
+48%
TDP
Thermal Design Power (TDP)
130 Watts 95 Watts More energy efficient.
+27%
Cores
CPU Processing Cores
6 cores 6 cores
Threads
CPU Processing Threads
12 threads Hugely higher thread count.
+100%
6 threads
Lithography
Manufacturing process
32 nm 14 nm Much newer manufacturing.
+56%
Base Clock
Base Clock Speed
3.3 GHz 3.6 GHz Slightly faster base frequency.
+9%
Turbo Clock
Turbo Clock Speed
3.9 GHz 4.3 GHz Faster turbo frequency.
+10%
64-Core
OC Multi Core Speed
888 Pts Slightly faster OC 64-core speed.
+7%
828 Pts
64-Core
Avg. Multi Core Speed
728 Pts Slightly faster 64-core speed.
+7%
681 Pts
Series
CPU Architecture
Sandy Bridge-E Coffee Lake
Socket
Motherboard Socket
FCLGA2011 FCLGA1151
Graphics
Integrated Graphics
None UHD 630
Launch Date
Launch Date
Q4'11 Q4'17
Cache
Cache
15 MB SmartCache 9 MB
Instruction Set Extensions
Instruction Set Extensions
SSE4.2, AVX, AES SSE4.1/4.2, AVX2
Lithography
Lithography
32 nm 14 nm
Max Turbo Frequency
Max Turbo Frequency
3.9 GHz 4.30 GHz
Bus Speed
Bus Speed
5 GT/s DMI2 8 GT/s DMI3
Memory Types
Memory Types
DDR3 1066/1333/1600 DDR4-2666
Memory Channels
Max # of Memory Channels
4 2
Package Size
Package Size
52.5mm x 45.0mm 37.5mm x 37.5mm
Hyper-Threading Tech
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology ‡
Yes No
vPro Tech
Intel® vPro™ Technology ‡
No Yes
Trusted Execution Tech
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡
No Yes
PCI Express Revision
PCI Express Revision
2.0 3.0
Max # of PCI Express Lanes
Max # of PCI Express Lanes
40 16

More specs » More specs »
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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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The unlocked hex-core i5-8600K from Intel’s latest Coffee Lake generation of processors is the new flagship of the i5 series, succeeding the Kaby Lake quad-core i5-7600K. The 8th generation of processors brings the largest performance uplift since Sandy Bridge by adding more cores at each of the i3, i5 and i7 product lines. Like the other Coffee Lake processors, the i5-8600K is built upon optimized 14nm architecture, marginally improved upon from Kaby Lake and Skylake. The 8600K has a 95W TDP and a nominal stock clock of 3.6 GHz, which boosts to 4.1 GHz for all six cores, 4.2 GHz for dual/quad and 4.3 GHz for single core. Early benchmarks put the i5-8600K’s effective speed 15% ahead of the i5-7600K. A 50% increase in multi-core speed is explained by two additional cores and thanks to the quad-core clock bump from 4 GHz on the 7600K to 4.2 GHz on the 8600K there is also an additional 5% performance boost across all workloads. All Coffee Lake processors require a 300-series chipset, making a straight CPU upgrade unfeasible despite sharing the same socket as their Z270 predecessors. Even though most games still use less than 4 cores simultaneously, the i5-8600K is a great choice for gamers but for $80 less, the 8350K which is faster than last years 7600K and only marginally weaker for gaming than the 8600K is certainly well worth considering as well. [Oct '17 CPUPro]

MORE DETAILS

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]

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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.
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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.

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 Frequently Asked Questions

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CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177Nvidia RTX 4070 $539Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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