i7-3960X vs i7-8700K

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-8700K
2017
6 cores / 12 threads, 95 Watt
8.57
+61.1%
Core i7-3960X
2011
6 cores / 12 threads, 130 Watt
5.32

Core i7-8700K outperforms Core i7-3960X by an impressive 61% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking8871182
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation4.570.42
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7Core i7 (Desktop)
Power efficiency8.543.88
Architecture codenameCoffee Lake-S (2017−2018)Sandy Bridge-E (2011−2013)
Release date5 October 2017 (7 years ago)14 November 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$359$861

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i7-8700K has 988% better value for money than i7-3960X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X 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 cores6 (Hexa-Core)6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads1212
Base clock speed3.7 GHz3.3 GHz
Boost clock speed4.7 GHz3.9 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0no data
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s5 GT/s
Multiplier37no data
L1 cache64K (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache12288 KB15 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm32 nm
Die size149 mm2435 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °C67 °C
Number of transistorsno data2,270 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
SIPP+-
Smart Responseno data+
Demand Based Switchingno data-

Security technologies

Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+-
EDB++
Secure Key+no data
MPX+-
Identity Protection++
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size128 GB64 GB
Max memory channels24
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/s51.2 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel UHD Graphics 630no data
Max video memory64 GBno data
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.2 GHzno data
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hzno data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.5no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes1640

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.

i7-8700K 8.57
+61.1%
i7-3960X 5.32

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.

i7-8700K 13619
+61.1%
i7-3960X 8453

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.

i7-8700K 1610
+144%
i7-3960X 661

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.

i7-8700K 6508
+103%
i7-3960X 3210

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.

i7-8700K 7328
+46.2%
i7-3960X 5014

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.

i7-8700K 39096
+43.8%
i7-3960X 27190

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.

i7-8700K 11701
+40.5%
i7-3960X 8330

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.

i7-8700K 4.16
+23.1%
i7-3960X 5.12

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.

i7-8700K 15
+42.6%
i7-3960X 11

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-8700K 1362
+17.6%
i7-3960X 1158

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.

i7-8700K 192
+20.8%
i7-3960X 159

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.

i7-8700K 2.2
+44.7%
i7-3960X 1.52

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.

i7-8700K 8
+53.8%
i7-3960X 5.2

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.

i7-8700K 7120
+69.3%
i7-3960X 4205

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.  

i7-8700K 87
+59.1%
i7-3960X 55

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.  

i7-8700K 232
+34.1%
i7-3960X 173

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 8.57 5.32
Recency 5 October 2017 14 November 2011
Chip lithography 14 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 95 Watt 130 Watt

i7-8700K has a 61.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 36.8% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-8700K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3960X in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-8700K and Core i7-3960X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-8700K
Core i7-8700K
Intel Core i7-3960X
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Similar processor comparisons

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Community ratings

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