Ryzen 5 5600U vs i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Aggregate performance score
Ryzen 5 5600U outperforms i7-3960X Extreme Edition by an impressive 74% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 1119 | 763 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i7EE | AMD Cezanne (Zen 3, Ryzen 5000) |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Cezanne-U (Zen 3) (2021) |
| Release date | 14 November 2011 (12 years ago) | 12 January 2021 (3 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U 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 cores | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 6 (Hexa-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 12 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 2.3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 4.2 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 2.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | 33 | 23 |
| L1 cache | no data | 384 KB |
| L2 cache | 1,536 KB | 3 MB |
| L3 cache | 15 MB | 16 MB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 7 nm |
| Die size | 434.72 mm2 | 180 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Number of transistors | 2270 Million | 10,700 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U 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 configuration | 1 (Uniprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | no data | FP6 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 15 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| FMA | - | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 64 GB | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U.
| PCIe version | 2.00 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | 8 |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.76 | 10.02 |
| Recency | 14 November 2011 | 12 January 2021 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 15 Watt |
Ryzen 5 5600U has a 74% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 357.1% more advanced lithography process, and 766.7% lower power consumption.
The Ryzen 5 5600U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is a desktop processor while Ryzen 5 5600U is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Ryzen 5 5600U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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.
