Xeon E5-2609 v4 vs i7-5960X

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	941	1561
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.83	1.55
Market segment	Desktop processor	Server
Series	Core i7 (Desktop)	Intel Xeon E5
Power efficiency	5.42	3.82
Architecture codename	Haswell-E (2014)	Broadwell (2015−2019)
Release date	1 September 2014 (10 years ago)	20 June 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$999	$306

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5-2609 v4 has 87% better value for money than i7-5960X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4 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)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	16	8
Base clock speed	3 GHz	1.7 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.5 GHz	1.7 GHz
Bus type	no data	QPI
Bus rate	0 GT/s	2 × 6.4 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	17
L1 cache	64K (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256K (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	20 MB (shared)	20 MB
Chip lithography	22 nm	14 nm
Die size	356 mm2	246.24 mm2
Maximum core temperature	67 °C	74 °C
Number of transistors	2,600 million	3200 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4 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	2 (Multiprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA2011	FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)	140 Watt	85 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
TSX	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	-
Smart Response	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	+
PAE	no data	46 Bit

Security technologies

Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Identity Protection	+	-
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866
Maximum memory size	64 GB	1.5 TB
Max memory channels	4	4
Maximum memory bandwidth	68 GB/s	59.7 GB/s
ECC memory support	-	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	40	40

Synthetic benchmark performance

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

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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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	8.03	3.43
Recency	1 September 2014	20 June 2016
Threads	16	8
Chip lithography	22 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	140 Watt	85 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-5960X and Xeon E5-2609 v4, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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