Xeon E5-2697 v2 vs Core i7-6950X

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6950X
2016
10 cores / 20 threads, 140 Watt
11.26
+21.7%

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by a significant 22% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking640770
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.5721.85
Market segmentDesktop processorServer
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Xeon (Desktop)
Architecture codenameBroadwell-E (2016)Ivy Bridge-EP (2013)
Release date31 May 2016 (8 years ago)1 September 2013 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$1,723
Current price$499 (0.3x MSRP)$73 (0x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5-2697 v2 has 512% better value for money than i7-6950X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2 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)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads2024
Base clock speed3 GHz2.7 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz3.5 GHz
Bus support9.6 GT/s / QPI8GT/s
L1 cache32K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache25 MB (shared)30 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm22 nm
Die size246 mm2160 mm2
Maximum core temperature67°86 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
Number of transistors3,800 million1,400 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierYesNo

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2 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 configuration12
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® AVX
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSXno data-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoringno data+
Flex Memory Accessno data-
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switchingno data+
PAEno data46 Bit
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+no data
StatusDiscontinuedDiscontinued

Security technologies

Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
Identity Protectionno data-
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size128 GB768 GB
Max memory channels44
Maximum memory bandwidthno data59.7 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes4040

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
+21.7%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 9.25

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 22% 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
+21.8%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 14302

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 22% 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 1302
+135%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 554

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 135% 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 8486
+97.7%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 4293

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 98% 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
+49.3%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 4173

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 49% 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
+16.1%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 34776

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 16% 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
+20.5%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 8843

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 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
+252%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 12.31

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-6950X by 252% 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
+13.6%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 18

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 14% 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
+19.9%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 1550

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 20% 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
+48.1%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 105

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 48% 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
+52%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 1.25

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 52% 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
+20.7%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 8.7

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 21% 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
+16.2%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 7269

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 16% 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
+18.5%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 85

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 19% 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
+18.9%
Xeon E5-2697 v2 165

Core i7-6950X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 19% in x264 encoding pass 1.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.26 9.25
Recency 31 May 2016 1 September 2013
Physical cores 10 12
Threads 20 24
Chip lithography 14 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 130 Watt

The Core i7-6950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E5-2697 v2 in performance tests.

Note that Core i7-6950X is a desktop processor while Xeon E5-2697 v2 is a server/workstation one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2697 v2, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6950X
Core i7-6950X
Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2
Xeon E5-2697 v2

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