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IntelBX80633I74960X
$1,189
IntelBX80619I73960X
▲ 52910 ▼
 $1,189 

6 Cores, 12 Threads @3.6GHz, Ivy Bridge-E.
Release date: Q3 2013.

VS
▲ 53589 ▼

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

Effective Speed 
+1%
Real World Speed
Performance profile from 7,286 user samples
Benchmark your CPU here
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: 265th / 1456
Gaming
Gaming 78%
Battleship
Desktop
Desktop 79%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 69%
Battle cruiser
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: 278th / 1456
Gaming
Gaming 78%
Battleship
Desktop
Desktop 79%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 67%
Battle cruiser
Effective Speed
Effective CPU Speed 		78.4 % +1% 77.7 %
Average Score 
+2%
Memory
Avg. Memory Latency 		86.2 Pts 87.1 Pts +1%
1-Core
Avg. Single Core Speed 		98 Pts +1% 96.7 Pts
2-Core
Avg. Dual Core Speed 		196 Pts +2% 192 Pts
4-Core
Avg. Quad Core Speed 		381 Pts +3% 369 Pts
8-Core
Avg. Octa Core Speed 		619 Pts Slightly faster octa-core speed.
+6% 		585 Pts
Overclocked Score 
+0%
Memory
OC Memory Latency 		95.2 Pts 95.3 Pts +0%
1-Core
OC Single Core Speed 		118 Pts 118 Pts
2-Core
OC Dual Core Speed 		231 Pts 233 Pts +1%
4-Core
OC Quad Core Speed 		450 Pts 457 Pts +2%
8-Core
OC Octa Core Speed 		728 Pts +2% 715 Pts
Value & Sentiment 
+∞%
Market Share
Based on 68,164,499 CPUs tested
See market share leaders
Market Share
Market Share (trailing 30 days) 		0.01 % Insanely higher market share.
+∞% 		0 %
Value
Value For Money 		52.6 % 78.7 % Much better value.
+50%
User Rating
UBM User Rating 		52 % 53 % +2%
Price
Price (score) 		$1,189 $265 Much cheaper.
+78%
Nice To Haves 
+7%
Age
Newest 		130 Months More recent.
+16% 		154 Months
TDP
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 		130 Watts 130 Watts
Cores
CPU Processing Cores 		6 cores 6 cores
Threads
CPU Processing Threads 		12 threads 12 threads
Lithography
Manufacturing process 		22 nm Much newer manufacturing.
+31% 		32 nm
Base Clock
Base Clock Speed 		3.6 GHz Slightly faster base frequency.
+9% 		3.3 GHz
Turbo Clock
Turbo Clock Speed 		4 GHz +3% 3.9 GHz
64-Core
OC Multi Core Speed 		905 Pts +2% 888 Pts
64-Core
Avg. Multi Core Speed 		776 Pts Slightly faster 64-core speed.
+7% 		728 Pts
Specifications 
Series
CPU Architecture 		Ivy Bridge-E Sandy Bridge-E
Socket
Motherboard Socket 		FCLGA2011 FCLGA2011
Graphics
Integrated Graphics 		None None
Launch Date
Launch Date 		Q3'13 Q4'11
Lithography
Lithography 		22 nm 32 nm
Max Turbo Frequency
Max Turbo Frequency 		4 GHz 3.9 GHz
Memory Types
Memory Types 		DDR3 1333/1600/1866 DDR3 1066/1333/1600
Memory Bandwidth
Max Memory Bandwidth 		59.7 GB/s 51.2 GB/s
PCI Express Revision
PCI Express Revision 		3.0 2.0

More specs » More specs »
Conclusion 
Average Bench 78.4%
Average Bench 77.7%
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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

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]

MORE DETAILS

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