Xeon E3-1280 v5 vs Core i7-6950X
Aggregate performance score
i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by a whopping 107% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 648 | 1099 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.53 | 2.28 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | Intel Core i7 (Desktop) | Intel Xeon E3 |
| Architecture codename | Broadwell-E (2016) | Skylake-S (2015) |
| Release date | 31 May 2016 (8 years ago) | 19 October 2015 (8 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,723 | $612 |
| Current price | $687 (0.4x MSRP) | $337 (0.6x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
i7-6950X has 11% better value for money than Xeon E3-1280 v5.
Detailed specifications
Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 20 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 3 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4 GHz | 4 GHz |
| Bus support | 9.6 GT/s / QPI | no data |
| L1 cache | 32K (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 25 MB (shared) | 8 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 246 mm2 | 160 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 67° | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 3,800 million | 1,400 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | Yes | No |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 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 | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA2011 | FCLGA1151 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 80 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | no data | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | no data | + |
| Smart Response | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | + | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| MPX | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with both Intel® SPS and Intel® ME |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | no data | + |
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR3, DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Max memory channels | 4 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 34.1 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | no data | N/A |
| Max resolution over eDP | no data | N/A |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | no data | N/A |
| Max resolution over VGA | no data | N/A |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | no data | N/A |
| OpenGL | no data | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | 16 |
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.
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 107% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 107% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 1% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 92% in GeekBench 5 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 26% 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%
Xeon E3-1280 v5 outperforms Core i7-6950X by 171% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 124% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 128% 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%
Xeon E3-1280 v5 outperforms Core i7-6950X by 5% 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%
Xeon E3-1280 v5 outperforms Core i7-6950X by 1% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 133% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 62% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 99% 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%
Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by 5% in x264 encoding pass 1.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 11.26 | 5.44 |
| Recency | 31 May 2016 | 19 October 2015 |
| Physical cores | 10 | 4 |
| Threads | 20 | 8 |
| Cost | $1723 | $612 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 140 Watt | 80 Watt |
The Core i7-6950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E3-1280 v5 in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-6950X is a desktop processor while Xeon E3-1280 v5 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6950X and Xeon E3-1280 v5, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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