Core i7-5960X vs Xeon E5-2697 v2

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Aggregate performance score

Xeon E5-2697 v2
2013
12 cores / 24 threads, 130 Watt
9.25
+12.4%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms i7-5960X by a moderate 12% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking778863
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation21.856.16
Market segmentServerDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Xeon (Desktop)Core i7 (Desktop)
Architecture codenameIvy Bridge-EP (2013)Haswell-E (2014)
Release date1 September 2013 (10 years ago)1 September 2014 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$999
Current price$96 (0.1x MSRP)$148 (0.1x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5-2697 v2 has 255% better value for money than i7-5960X.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X 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 cores12 (Dodeca-Core)8 (Octa-Core)
Threads2416
Base clock speed2.7 GHz3 GHz
Boost clock speed3.5 GHz3.5 GHz
Bus support8GT/sno data
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache30 MB (shared)20 MB (shared)
Chip lithography22 nm22 nm
Die size160 mm2356 mm2
Maximum core temperature86 °C67 °C
Number of transistors1,400 million2,600 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierNoYes

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X 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 configuration21
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)130 Watt140 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® AVXIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access-no data
Smart Responseno data+
Demand Based Switching+-
PAE46 Bitno data
StatusDiscontinuedDiscontinued

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key+no data
Identity Protection-+
OS Guard+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4
Maximum memory size768 GB64 GB
Max memory channels44
Maximum memory bandwidth59.7 GB/s68 GB/s
ECC memory support+-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X.

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.

Xeon E5-2697 v2 9.25
+12.4%
i7-5960X 8.23

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 12% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 14307
+12.3%
i7-5960X 12737

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 12% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 554
i7-5960X 1301
+135%

Core i7-5960X 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 4294
i7-5960X 7393
+72.2%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 72% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 4173
i7-5960X 5193
+24.4%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 24% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 34776
+2.5%
i7-5960X 33929

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 2% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 8843
i7-5960X 9924
+12.2%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 12% 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 E5-2697 v2 12.31
i7-5960X 4.25
+190%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 190% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 18
+16.9%
i7-5960X 15

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 17% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 1550
+11.8%
i7-5960X 1387

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 12% 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 E5-2697 v2 105
i7-5960X 139
+32.4%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 32% 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 E5-2697 v2 1.25
i7-5960X 1.53
+22.4%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 22% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 8.7
+6.1%
i7-5960X 8.2

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 6% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 7269
+3.1%
i7-5960X 7049

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 3% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 85
+3.5%
i7-5960X 82

Xeon E5-2697 v2 outperforms Core i7-5960X by 4% 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%

Xeon E5-2697 v2 165
i7-5960X 191
+15.9%

Core i7-5960X outperforms Xeon E5-2697 v2 by 16% in x264 encoding pass 1.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.25 8.23
Recency 1 September 2013 1 September 2014
Physical cores 12 8
Threads 24 16
Cost $1723 $999
Power consumption (TDP) 130 Watt 140 Watt

The Xeon E5-2697 v2 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-5960X in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E5-2697 v2 is a server/workstation processor while Core i7-5960X is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2697 v2 and Core i7-5960X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2
Xeon E5-2697 v2
Intel Core i7-5960X
Core i7-5960X

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