UserBenchmark: Intel Core i7-4960X vs i9-9900K

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IntelBX80633I74960X

$1,189

IntelBX80684I99900K

BUY • $412

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 359,344 user samples

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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

354,223 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 104% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 5.2 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 89% Base clock 3.6 GHz, turbo 1.3 GHz (avg)

Poor: 89% Great: 104%

SPEED RANK: 90^th / 1442

Gaming 98%

Nuclear submarine

Desktop 98%

Nuclear submarine

Workstation 97%

Nuclear submarine


Effective Speed Effective CPU Speed		78.4 %			97.9 %	Faster effective speed. +25%


Memory Avg. Memory Latency	86.2 Pts	93.1 Pts	Slightly lower memory latency. +8%
1-Core Avg. Single Core Speed	98 Pts	142 Pts	Much faster single-core speed. +45%
2-Core Avg. Dual Core Speed	196 Pts	281 Pts	Much faster dual-core speed. +43%
4-Core Avg. Quad Core Speed	381 Pts	551 Pts	Much faster quad-core speed. +45%
8-Core Avg. Octa Core Speed	619 Pts	981 Pts	Much faster octa-core speed. +58%


Memory OC Memory Latency	95.2 Pts	97.2 Pts	+2%
1-Core OC Single Core Speed	118 Pts	153 Pts	Faster OC single-core speed. +30%
2-Core OC Dual Core Speed	231 Pts	305 Pts	Much faster OC dual-core speed. +32%
4-Core OC Quad Core Speed	450 Pts	604 Pts	Much faster OC quad-core speed. +34%
8-Core OC Octa Core Speed	728 Pts	1116 Pts	Much faster OC octa-core speed. +53%

Market Share

Based on 67,714,833 CPUs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.04 %	1.12 %	Insanely higher market share. +2,700%
Value Value For Money	52.6 %	87.9 %	Much better value. +67%
User Rating UBM User Rating	52 %	87 %	Much more popular. +67%
Price Price (score)	$1,189	$412	Much cheaper. +65%


Age Newest	127 Months	66 Months	Much more recent. +48%
TDP Thermal Design Power (TDP)	130 Watts	95 Watts	More energy efficient. +27%
Cores CPU Processing Cores	6 cores	8 cores	Much higher core count. +33%
Threads CPU Processing Threads	12 threads	16 threads	Much higher thread count. +33%
Lithography Manufacturing process	22 nm	14 nm	Much newer manufacturing. +36%
Base Clock Base Clock Speed	3.6 GHz	3.6 GHz
Turbo Clock Turbo Clock Speed	4 GHz	5 GHz	Faster turbo frequency. +25%
64-Core OC Multi Core Speed	905 Pts	1590 Pts	Much faster OC 64-core speed. +76%
64-Core Avg. Multi Core Speed	776 Pts	1451 Pts	Hugely faster 64-core speed. +87%


Series CPU Architecture	Ivy Bridge-E	Coffee Lake
Socket Motherboard Socket	FCLGA2011	FCLGA1151
Graphics Integrated Graphics	None	UHD 630
Launch Date Launch Date	Q3'13	Q4'18
Cache Cache	15 MB SmartCache	16 MB SmartCache
Instruction Set Extensions Instruction Set Extensions	SSE4.2, AVX, AES	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
Lithography Lithography	22 nm	14 nm
Recommended Price Recommended Customer Price	N/A	$488.00 - $499.00
Max Turbo Frequency Max Turbo Frequency	4 GHz	5.00 GHz
Bus Speed Bus Speed	5 GT/s DMI2	8 GT/s DMI3
Memory Types Memory Types	DDR3 1333/1600/1866	DDR4-2666
Memory Channels Max # of Memory Channels	4	2
Memory Bandwidth Max Memory Bandwidth	59.7 GB/s	41.6 GB/s
Package Size Package Size	52.5mm x 45.0mm	37.5mm x 37.5mm
Trusted Execution Tech Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡	No	Yes
Max # of PCI Express Lanes Max # of PCI Express Lanes	40	16
	More specs »	More specs »

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]}

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The Intel i9-9900K is an 8 core, 16 thread, unlocked 9th generation Coffee Lake processor. It has a base / boost clocks of 3.6 / 4.7 GHz and a single-core boost of 5.0 GHz (the highest frequency achieved yet from this class of Intel CPU). It features 16 MB of cache, a 95W TDP and Intel UHD 630 graphics. The 9900K is compatible with the new Z390 chipset, and subject to a BIOS update, is also compatible with the older Z370 chipset. Aimed at users who do not wish to compromise, the i9-9900K offers the best gaming and desktop experience available at any price. Heavy workstation users should consider the Ryzen 9 3900X which is similarly priced. Comparing the overclocked 3900X shows that it is just 10% worse for gaming and desktop (sub octa-core) but around 40% better for 64-core computations. Gamers should consider the 9700K which offers identical overclocked gaming performance at a $100 USD discount. ^{[Oct '18 CPUPro]}

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35	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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