Ryzen Threadripper 2920X vs i7-9700K

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-9700K
2018
8 cores / 8 threads, 95 Watt
9.45
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X
2018
12 cores / 24 threads, 180 Watt
16.63
+76%

Ryzen Threadripper 2920X outperforms Core i7-9700K by an impressive 76% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking830410
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.609.96
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7AMD Ryzen Threadripper
Power efficiency9.078.42
Architecture codenameCoffee Lake-R (2018−2019)ZEN+ (2018−2019)
Release date8 October 2018 (6 years ago)3 October 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$374$649

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen Threadripper 2920X has 31% better value for money than i7-9700K.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 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 cores8 (Octa-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads824
Base clock speed3.6 GHz3.5 GHz
Boost clock speed4.9 GHz4.3 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0no data
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier3635
L1 cache512 KB96K (per core)
L2 cache2 MB512K (per core)
L3 cache12 MB (shared)32 MB
Chip lithography14 nm12 nm
Die size178 mm2213 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
Number of transistorsno data19,200 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 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 (Uniprocessor)
SocketLGA-1151SP3r2
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt180 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2no data
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
TSX+-
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
SIPP+-
Precision Boost 2no data+

Security technologies

Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data
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 i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-d+no data
VT-x+no data
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4 Quad-channel
Maximum memory size128 GB2 TiB
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/s93.867 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel UHD Graphics 630-
Max video memory64 GB-
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video+-
Clear Video HD+-
Graphics max frequency1.2 GHz-
InTru 3D+-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3-

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+-
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2304@24Hz-
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hz-
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hz-

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12-
OpenGL4.5-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X.

PCIe version3.0no data
PCI Express lanes16no data

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.

i7-9700K 9.45
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 16.63
+76%

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.

i7-9700K 14460
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 25444
+76%

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.

i7-9700K 1696
+32.7%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 1278

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.

i7-9700K 7201
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 7364
+2.3%

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.

i7-9700K 7653
+41.5%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 5407

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.

i7-9700K 42778
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 46015
+7.6%

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.

i7-9700K 12928
+18.1%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 10948

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.

i7-9700K 4.49
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 3.03
+48.2%

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.

i7-9700K 16
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 18
+10.9%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-9700K 1449
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 2628
+81.4%

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.

i7-9700K 206
+15.4%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 178

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.

i7-9700K 2.37
+20.9%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 1.96

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.

i7-9700K 8.1
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 16.2
+100%

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.  

i7-9700K 95
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 131
+38.2%

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.  

i7-9700K 270
+29.5%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 209

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.

i7-9700K 7396
+58.4%
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 4669

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.45 16.63
Physical cores 8 12
Threads 8 24
Chip lithography 14 nm 12 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 95 Watt 180 Watt

i7-9700K has 89.5% lower power consumption.

Ryzen Threadripper 2920X, on the other hand, has a 76% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

The Ryzen Threadripper 2920X is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-9700K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-9700K and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i7-9700K
Core i7-9700K
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X

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