Intel Core i7-3960X vs Intel Core i7-3970X. 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 i7 Extreme Edition
• Generation
  3 3
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 3000X Intel Core i 3000X

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 3.50 GHz
• CPU Cores
  6 6
• Turbo (1 Core)
  3.90 GHz 4.00 GHz
• CPU Threads
  12 12
• Turbo (6 Cores)
  3.90 GHz 4.00 GHz
• Hyperthreading
  Yes Yes
• Overclocking
  Yes Yes
• 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 no iGPU
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo No turbo

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 No
• VP9
  No No
• VP8
  No No
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  No No
• VC-1
  No No
• JPEG
  No No

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i7-3970X and Intel Core i7-3960X. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR3-1600 DDR3-1600
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  4 4

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i7-3960X and Intel Core i7-3970X to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  130 W 150 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 (C2 Stepping)
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L3-Cache
  15.00 MB 15.00 MB
• Architecture
  Sandy Bridge E Sandy Bridge E
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Socket
  LGA 2011 LGA 2011
• Release date
  Q4/2011 Q4/2012