Pentium Silver N6005 vs i7-3960X Extreme Edition

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition
2011
6 cores / 12 threads, 130 Watt
5.80
+65.2%
Pentium Silver N6005
2021
4 cores / 4 threads, 10 Watt
3.51

Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition outperforms Pentium Silver N6005 by an impressive 65% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking11381551
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7EEno data
Power efficiency4.0732.01
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Jasper Lake (2021)
Release date14 November 2011 (12 years ago)11 January 2021 (3 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores6 (Hexa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads124
Base clock speedno data2 GHz
Boost clock speed3.3 GHz3.3 GHz
Bus typeDMI 2.0no data
Bus rate5 GT/sno data
Multiplier33no data
L2 cache1,536 KB1.5 MB
L3 cache15 MB4 MB
Chip lithography32 nm10 nm
Die size434.72 mm2no data
Maximum core temperatureno data105 °C
Number of transistors2270 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
Socketno dataFCBGA1338
Power consumption (TDP)130 Watt10 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NI++
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data-
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data-
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
Smart Responseno data-
GPIOno data+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data-

Security technologies

Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data-
Identity Protection-+
SGXno data-
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 are enumerated here.

VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesno dataDDR4
Maximum memory size64 GB16 GB
Max memory channelsno data2

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel UHD Graphics
Quick Sync Video-+
Graphics max frequencyno data900 MHz
Execution Unitsno data32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data3
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
MIPI-DSIno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution supportno data+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data4096x2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005.

PCIe version2.00no data
PCI Express lanes408
USB revisionno data2.0/3.2
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Portsno data2
Number of USB portsno data14
Integrated LANno data-
UARTno data+

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.80 3.51
Recency 14 November 2011 11 January 2021
Physical cores 6 4
Threads 12 4
Chip lithography 32 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 130 Watt 10 Watt

i7-3960X Extreme Edition has a 65.2% higher aggregate performance score, and 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads.

Pentium Silver N6005, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 9 years, a 220% more advanced lithography process, and 1200% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium Silver N6005 in performance tests.

Note that Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is a desktop processor while Pentium Silver N6005 is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Intel Pentium Silver N6005
Pentium Silver N6005

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.8 39 votes

Rate Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.2 99 votes

Rate Pentium Silver N6005 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition or Pentium Silver N6005, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.