Core i5-12600K vs Core i7-6950X

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6950X
2016
10 cores / 20 threads, 140 Watt
11.26
Core i5-12600K
2021
10 cores / 16 threads, 125 Watt
17.93
+59.2%

i5-12600K outperforms i7-6950X by an impressive 59% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking648316
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.5648.81
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Core i5
Architecture codenameBroadwell-E (2016)Alder Lake-S (2022)
Release date31 May 2016 (8 years ago)4 November 2021 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$289
Current price$687 (0.4x MSRP)$304 (1.1x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i5-12600K has 1807% better value for money than i7-6950X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K 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 cores10 (Deca-Core)10 (Deca-Core)
Threads2016
Base clock speed3 GHz3.7 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz4.9 GHz
Bus support9.6 GT/s / QPIno data
L1 cache32K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache25 MB (shared)20 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nmIntel 7 nm
Die size246 mm2215.25 mm220.5 mm × 10.5 mm
Maximum core temperature67°100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °C72 °C
Number of transistors3,800 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplierYesYes

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K 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
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
FMAno data+
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data+
Smart Response+no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+-
StatusDiscontinuedLaunched

Security technologies

Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size128 GB128 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidthno data76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel UHD Graphics 770
Quick Sync Videono data+
Clear Video HDno data+
Graphics max frequencyno data1.45 GHz
Execution Unitsno data32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data4

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K.

PCIe version3.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes4020

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.

i7-6950X 11.26
i5-12600K 17.93
+59.2%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 59% based on our aggregate benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

i7-6950X 17418
i5-12600K 27731
+59.2%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 59% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i7-6950X 1303
i5-12600K 2453
+88.3%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 88% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i7-6950X 8487
i5-12600K 11800
+39%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 39% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 20%

i7-6950X 6231
i5-12600K 9381
+50.6%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 51% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i7-6950X 40378
i5-12600K 55462
+37.4%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 37% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i7-6950X 10658
i5-12600K 15722
+47.5%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 48% in 3DMark06 CPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 18%

i7-6950X 3.5
+35.1%
i5-12600K 4.73

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 35% in wPrime 32.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

i7-6950X 20
i5-12600K 30
+50.1%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 50% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core.

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i7-6950X 1859
i5-12600K 2555
+37.4%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 37% in Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i7-6950X 156
i5-12600K 275
+76.8%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 77% in Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

i7-6950X 1.9
i5-12600K 3.31
+74.2%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 74% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-6950X 10.5
i5-12600K 12.8
+21.9%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 22% in TrueCrypt AES.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-6950X 8450
+35.4%
i5-12600K 6239

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i5-12600K by 35% in WinRAR 4.0.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-6950X 101
i5-12600K 148
+46.5%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 47% in x264 encoding pass 2.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-6950X 196
i5-12600K 334
+70.2%

Core i5-12600K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 70% in x264 encoding pass 1.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.26 17.93
Recency 31 May 2016 4 November 2021
Threads 20 16
Cost $1723 $289
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 125 Watt

The Core i5-12600K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-6950X in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6950X and Core i5-12600K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6950X
Core i7-6950X
Intel Core i5-12600K
Core i5-12600K

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