Core i7-5960X CPU Review

How We Tested

During our benchmarking sessions, we used the configuration listed below. Between our benchmarking sessions, the only variable device was the CPU being tested and the motherboard, which had to be replaced to match the different CPU sockets. The memory also has to be replaced, since the Core i7-5960X uses DDR4 memory, while the other two CPUs use DDR3.

Hardware Configuration

• Motherboard (socket LGA2011-v3): ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer
• Motherboard (socket LGA1150): ASRock Z97 Extreme4
• Motherboard (socket AM3+): ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer
• CPU Cooler: SilverStone TD02
• Memory (DDR3): 16 GiB DDR3 G.Skill Sniper 1866, two F3-1866C10D-16GSR 8 GiB memory modules configured at 1866 MHz
• Memory (DDR4): 16 GiB DDR4 G.Skill Ripjaws 4, four F4-2400C15Q-16GRR 4 GiB memory modules configured at 2400 MHz
• Boot drive: Kingston HyperX Fury 240 GB
• Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 (GV-N770OC-2GD)
• Video Monitor: Philips 236VL
• Power Supply: Corsair CX750

Operating System Configuration

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• NTFS
• Video resolution: 1920 x 1080 60 Hz (desktop), 1280 x 720 (games)

Driver Versions

• AMD driver version: 14.12
• Intel Inf chipset driver version: 10.0
• nVIDIA GeForce driver version: 347.25

Software Used

• 3DMark 1.4.828
• Cinebench R15
• DivX 10.2.4
• DVD Shrink 3.2
• Media Espresso 6.7
• PCMark 8 2.2.282
• Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
• Battlefield 4
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• F1 2013
• Far Cry 4
• Metro Last Light

Error Margin

We adopted a 4% error margin. Thus, differences below 4% cannot be considered relevant. In other words, products with a performance difference below 4% should be considered as having similar performance.