Pentium Silver N6005 vs i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Aggregate performance score
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition outperforms Pentium Silver N6005 by an impressive 65% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1142 | 1557 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i7EE | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.07 | 31.99 |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Jasper Lake (2021) |
| Release date | 14 November 2011 (13 years ago) | 11 January 2021 (3 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 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 cores | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 2.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | 33 | no data |
| L2 cache | 1,536 KB | 1.5 MB |
| L3 cache | 15 MB | 4 MB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 10 nm |
| Die size | 434.72 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Number of transistors | 2270 Million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 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 configuration | 1 (Uniprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | no data | FCBGA1338 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 10 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | - |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Smart Response | no data | - |
| GPIO | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
Security technologies
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| Identity Protection | - | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 64 GB | 16 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Quick Sync Video | - | + |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 900 MHz |
| Execution Units | no data | 32 |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 3 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| MIPI-DSI | no data | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | no data | + |
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | no data | 4096x2160@60Hz |
| Max resolution over eDP | no data | 4096x2160@60Hz |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | no data | 4096x2160@60Hz |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | no data | 12 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.5 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005.
| PCIe version | 2.00 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | 8 |
| USB revision | no data | 2.0/3.2 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | no data | 2 |
| Number of USB ports | no data | 14 |
| Integrated LAN | no data | - |
| UART | no data | + |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.59 | 3.38 |
| Recency | 14 November 2011 | 11 January 2021 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 4 |
| Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 10 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 10 Watt |
i7-3960X Extreme Edition has a 65.4% higher aggregate performance score, and 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads.
Pentium Silver N6005, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 9 years, a 220% more advanced lithography process, and 1200% lower power consumption.
The Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium Silver N6005 in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is a desktop processor while Pentium Silver N6005 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Pentium Silver N6005, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
