Athlon 64 FX-55 vs i7-5960X
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 931 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.75 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Series | Core i7 (Desktop) | no data |
| Power efficiency | 5.42 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Haswell-E (2014) | Clawhammer (2001−2005) |
| Release date | 1 September 2014 (10 years ago) | 10 October 2004 (20 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $180 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55 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 | 8 (Octa-Core) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 16 | 1 |
| Base clock speed | 3 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.5 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Bus rate | 0 GT/s | no data |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 1 MB |
| L3 cache | 20 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 130 nm |
| Die size | 356 mm2 | 193 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 67 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 63 °C |
| Number of transistors | 2,600 million | 105 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55 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 | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA2011 | 939 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 104 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| TSX | + | - |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Smart Response | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
Security technologies
Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR1 Depends on motherboard |
| Maximum memory size | 64 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 4 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 68 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | no data |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 September 2014 | 10 October 2004 |
| Physical cores | 8 | 1 |
| Threads | 16 | 1 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 104 Watt |
i7-5960X has an age advantage of 9 years, 700% more physical cores and 1500% more threads, and a 490.9% more advanced lithography process.
Athlon 64 FX-55, on the other hand, has 34.6% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-5960X and Athlon 64 FX-55, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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