Ryzen 9 7900X vs i7-5960X

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-5960X
2014
8 cores / 16 threads, 140 Watt
8.03
Ryzen 9 7900X
2022
12 cores / 24 threads, 170 Watt
32.52
+305%

Ryzen 9 7900X outperforms Core i7-5960X by a whopping 305% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking939123
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.83no data
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesCore i7 (Desktop)no data
Power efficiency5.4018.01
Architecture codenameHaswell-E (2014)Raphael (Zen4) (2022−2023)
Release date1 September 2014 (10 years ago)27 September 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$999no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X 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 cores8 (Octa-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads1624
Base clock speed3 GHz4.7 GHz
Boost clock speed3.5 GHz5.6 GHz
Bus rate0 GT/sno data
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)1 MB (per core)
L3 cache20 MB (shared)64 MB (shared)
Chip lithography22 nm5 nm
Die size356 mm22x 70 (CCD) mm2 + 122 (I/O) mm2
Maximum core temperature67 °C95 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data47 °C
Number of transistors2,600 millionCCD: 6,5 Mrd + IOD: 3,4 Mrd Million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X 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 configuration11
SocketFCLGA2011AM5
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt170 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX25 nm (CCD), 6 nm (I/O) nm, 0.650 - 1.475V
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
TSX+-
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
Precision Boost 2no data+

Security technologies

Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X 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 Ryzen 9 7900X are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
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 Ryzen 9 7900X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR5-5200
Maximum memory size64 GBno data
Max memory channels4no data
Maximum memory bandwidth68 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataAMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000)

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X.

PCIe version3.05.0
PCI Express lanes4024

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i7-5960X 8.03
Ryzen 9 7900X 32.52
+305%

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.

i7-5960X 12759
Ryzen 9 7900X 51655
+305%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-5960X 1316
Ryzen 9 7900X 2954
+124%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-5960X 7470
Ryzen 9 7900X 17923
+140%

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i7-5960X 5193
Ryzen 9 7900X 8623
+66.1%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i7-5960X 33929
Ryzen 9 7900X 68580
+102%

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i7-5960X 9924
Ryzen 9 7900X 21284
+114%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i7-5960X 4.25
Ryzen 9 7900X 1.8
+136%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i7-5960X 15
Ryzen 9 7900X 55
+263%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-5960X 1387
Ryzen 9 7900X 4821
+248%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-5960X 139
Ryzen 9 7900X 323
+132%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i7-5960X 1.53
Ryzen 9 7900X 3.83
+150%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i7-5960X 8.2
Ryzen 9 7900X 14.8
+80.5%

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i7-5960X 82
Ryzen 9 7900X 241
+193%

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i7-5960X 191
Ryzen 9 7900X 376
+96.9%

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i7-5960X 7049
Ryzen 9 7900X 17225
+144%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 8.03 32.52
Recency 1 September 2014 27 September 2022
Physical cores 8 12
Threads 16 24
Chip lithography 22 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 170 Watt

i7-5960X has 21.4% lower power consumption.

Ryzen 9 7900X, on the other hand, has a 305% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and a 340% more advanced lithography process.

The Ryzen 9 7900X is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-5960X in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-5960X and Ryzen 9 7900X, 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 i7-5960X
Core i7-5960X
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
Ryzen 9 7900X

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.


3.8 226 votes

Rate Core i7-5960X on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.3 1174 votes

Rate Ryzen 9 7900X on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i7-5960X or Ryzen 9 7900X, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.