Intel Core i7-3960X vs Intel Core i5-3470S. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• Segment
  Desktop / Server Desktop / Server
• Family
  Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition Intel Core i5
• Generation
  3 3
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 3000X Intel Core i 3000

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

• Frequency
  3.30 GHz 2.90 GHz
• CPU Cores
  6 4
• Turbo (1 Core)
  3.90 GHz 3.60 GHz
• CPU Threads
  12 4
• Hyperthreading
  Yes No
• Overclocking
  Yes No
• Core architecture
  normal normal

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• GPU name
  no iGPU Intel HD Graphics 2500
• GPU frequency
  0.65 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 1.10 GHz
• Execution units
  6
• Shader
  48
• Max. displays
  3
• Generation
  7
• DirectX Version
  11.0
• Technology
  22 nm
• Release date
  Q2/2012

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No No
• h264
  No Decode / Encode
• VP9
  No No
• VP8
  No No
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  No Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  No Decode
• JPEG
  No Decode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i5-3470S and Intel Core i7-3960X. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR3-1600 DDR3-1600
• Max. Memory
  32 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  4 2
• PCIe version
  3.0
• PCIe lanes
  16

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i7-3960X and Intel Core i5-3470S to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  130 W 65 W

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i7-3960X and Intel Core i7-3960X, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d (C2 Stepping) VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L3-Cache
  15.00 MB 6.00 MB
• Architecture
  Sandy Bridge E Ivy Bridge S
• Technology
  32 nm 22 nm
• Socket
  LGA 2011 LGA 1155
• Release date
  Q4/2011 Q2/2012