Ryzen Z2 Extreme vs i7-6950X
Aggregate performance score
Ryzen Z2 Extreme outperforms Core i7-6950X by a substantial 37% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 902 | 608 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.89 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i7 (Desktop) | AMD Strix Halo/Point (Zen 5/5c, Ryzen AI 300) |
| Power efficiency | 7.64 | no data |
| Designer | Intel | AMD |
| Manufacturer | Intel | no data |
| Architecture codename | Broadwell-E (2016) | Strix Point (Zen 5) (2025) |
| Release date | 31 May 2016 (9 years ago) | 6 January 2025 (less than a year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,723 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme 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 | 10 (Deca-Core) | 8 (Octa-Core) |
| Threads | 20 | 16 |
| Base clock speed | 3 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4 GHz | 5 GHz |
| Bus rate | 9.6 GT/s / QPI | no data |
| L1 cache | 32K (per core) | no data |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 8 MB |
| L3 cache | 25 MB (shared) | 16 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 4 nm |
| Die size | 246 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 3,800 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | no data |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme 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 | no data |
| Socket | FCLGA2011 | FP8 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 8 MB + 16 MB |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | USB 4, XDNA 2 NPU (50 TOPS), Secure Processor, SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Smart Response | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme 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 i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR5 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 4 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | AMD Radeon 890M |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6950X and Ryzen Z2 Extreme.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | no data |
Synthetic benchmarks
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.
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. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
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.
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.
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.
Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 9.98 | 13.72 |
| Recency | 31 May 2016 | 6 January 2025 |
| Physical cores | 10 | 8 |
| Threads | 20 | 16 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 4 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 8 Watt |
i7-6950X has 25% more physical cores and 25% more threads.
Ryzen Z2 Extreme, on the other hand, has a 37.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 250% more advanced lithography process, and 1650% lower power consumption.
The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Core i7-6950X in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-6950X is a desktop processor while Ryzen Z2 Extreme is a notebook one.
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