Core i7-9700K vs Core i7-6950X

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Aggregated performance score

Core i7-6950X
2016
10 cores / 20 threads
11.26
+20.3%

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 20% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking627744
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.7515.87
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Core i7
Architecture codenameBroadwell-E (2016)Coffee Lake-R (2018−2019)
Release date31 May 2016 (7 years ago)19 October 2018 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$385
Current price$499 (0.3x MSRP)$245 (0.6x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i7-9700K has 323% better value for money than i7-6950X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K 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)8 (Octa-Core)
Threads208
Base clock speed3 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz4.9 GHz
Bus support9.6 GT/s / QPIno data
L1 cache32K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache25 MB (shared)12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm14 nm
Die size246 mm2178 mm2
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 i7-9700K 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
SocketFCLGA2011LGA-1151
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K. 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++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSXno data+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data+
Smart Response+no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+no data
StatusDiscontinuedDiscontinued

Security technologies

Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
MPXno data+
Identity Protectionno data+
SGXno dataYes with Intel® ME
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K are enumerated here.

AMD-Vno data+
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4
Maximum memory size128 GB128 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidthno data41.6 GB/s
ECC memory support--

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel UHD Graphics 630
Max video memoryno data64 GB
Quick Sync Videono data+
Clear Videono data+
Clear Video HDno data+
Graphics max frequencyno data1.2 GHz
InTru 3Dno data+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data3

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution supportno data+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2304@24Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096 x 2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data4096 x 2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K 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 i7-9700K.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes4016

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
+20.3%
i7-9700K 9.36

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 20% based on our aggregated 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 17420
+20.4%
i7-9700K 14473

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 20% 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 1301
i7-9700K 1680
+29.1%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 29% 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 8479
+18.2%
i7-9700K 7171

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 18% 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
i7-9700K 7653
+22.8%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 23% 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
i7-9700K 42778
+5.9%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 6% 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
i7-9700K 12928
+21.3%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 21% 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
+28.3%
i7-9700K 4.49

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 28% 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
+26.3%
i7-9700K 16

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 26% 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
+28.3%
i7-9700K 1449

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 28% 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
i7-9700K 206
+32.2%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 32% 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
i7-9700K 2.37
+24.7%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 25% 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
+29.6%
i7-9700K 8.1

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 30% 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
+14.3%
i7-9700K 7396

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 14% in WinRAR 4.0.

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
i7-9700K 270
+37.8%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 38% in x264 encoding pass 1.

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
+6.5%
i7-9700K 95

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 7% in x264 encoding pass 2.

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

Benchmark coverage: 5%

i7-6950X 3387
i7-9700K 4825
+42.5%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 42% in Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core.

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

Benchmark coverage: 5%

i7-6950X 31129
+12.1%
i7-9700K 27774

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 12% in Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core.

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit multi-core

Benchmark coverage: 2%

i7-6950X 26761
+1.1%
i7-9700K 26471

Core i7-6950X outperforms Core i7-9700K by 1% in Geekbench 4.0 64-bit multi-core.

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit single-core

Benchmark coverage: 2%

i7-6950X 4049
i7-9700K 5744
+41.9%

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i7-6950X by 42% in Geekbench 4.0 64-bit single-core.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.26 9.36
Recency 31 May 2016 19 October 2018
Physical cores 10 8
Threads 20 8
Cost $1723 $385
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 95 Watt

The Core i7-6950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-9700K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6950X and Core i7-9700K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6950X
Core i7-6950X
Intel Core i7-9700K
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