i7-3960X vs Ryzen 5 4500U

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

Ryzen 5 4500U
2020
6 cores / 6 threads, 15 Watt
6.79
+29.1%
Core i7-3960X
2011
6 cores / 12 threads, 130 Watt
5.26

Ryzen 5 4500U outperforms Core i7-3960X by a significant 29% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking10471204
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data0.42
Market segmentLaptopDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Renoir (Ryzen 4000 APU)Core i7 (Desktop)
Power efficiency43.143.86
Architecture codenameRenoir-U (Zen 2) (2020−2021)Sandy Bridge-E (2011−2013)
Release date6 January 2020 (5 years ago)14 November 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$861

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Ryzen 5 4500U 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)
Threads612
Base clock speed2.3 GHz3.3 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz3.9 GHz
Bus rateno data5 GT/s
Multiplier23no data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache512 KB (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)15 MB (shared)
Chip lithography7 nm32 nm
Die size156 mm2435 mm2
Maximum core temperature105 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data67 °C
Number of transistors9,800 million2,270 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-
Unlocked multiplier-+

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 5 4500U 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 configuration11
SocketFP6FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsMMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SMEIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
AES-NI++
FMA+-
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
Smart Responseno data+
Demand Based Switchingno data-

Security technologies

Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data-
EDBno data+
Identity Protection-+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size64 GB64 GB
Max memory channelsno data4
Maximum memory bandwidth68.27 GB/s51.2 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardAMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) ( - 1500 MHz)no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes1240

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 6.79
+29.1%
i7-3960X 5.26

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 10878
+29.1%
i7-3960X 8429

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 5337
+6.5%
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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 24156
i7-3960X 27190
+12.6%

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 8934
+7.2%
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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 8.3
i7-3960X 5.12
+62.1%

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 11
+3.7%
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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 892
i7-3960X 1158
+29.8%

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 174
+9.4%
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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 2.03
+33.6%
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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 4.9
i7-3960X 5.2
+6.1%

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.  

Ryzen 5 4500U 59
+8.2%
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.  

Ryzen 5 4500U 210
+21.4%
i7-3960X 173

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.

Ryzen 5 4500U 3493
i7-3960X 4205
+20.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 6.79 5.26
Recency 6 January 2020 14 November 2011
Threads 6 12
Chip lithography 7 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 130 Watt

Ryzen 5 4500U has a 29.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, a 357.1% more advanced lithography process, and 766.7% lower power consumption.

i7-3960X, on the other hand, has 100% more threads.

The Ryzen 5 4500U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3960X in performance tests.

Be aware that Ryzen 5 4500U is a notebook processor while Core i7-3960X is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 5 4500U and Core i7-3960X, 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.


AMD Ryzen 5 4500U
Ryzen 5 4500U
Intel Core i7-3960X
Core i7-3960X

Other comparisons

We've compiled a selection of CPU comparisons, ranging from closely matched processors to other comparisons that may be of interest.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


4 2361 vote

Rate Ryzen 5 4500U on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.8 78 votes

Rate Core i7-3960X on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Ryzen 5 4500U or Core i7-3960X, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.