Celeron N4020 vs i7-3960X

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-3960X
2011
6 cores / 12 threads, 130 Watt
5.42
+447%
Celeron N4020
2019
2 cores / 2 threads, 6 Watt
0.99

Core i7-3960X outperforms Celeron N4020 by a whopping 447% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking11702474
Place by popularitynot in top-10083
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.38no data
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
SeriesCore i7 (Desktop)Intel Gemini Lake
Power efficiency3.8715.33
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge-E (2011−2013)Gemini Lake Refresh (2019)
Release date14 November 2011 (13 years ago)4 November 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$861no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 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 cores6 (Hexa-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads122
Base clock speed3.3 GHz1.1 GHz
Boost clock speed3.9 GHz2.8 GHz
Bus rate5 GT/s15 MHz
L1 cache64 KB (per core)no data
L2 cache256 KB (per core)4 MB
L3 cache15 MB (shared)4 MB
Chip lithography32 nm14 nm
Die size435 mm2no data
Maximum core temperatureno data105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)67 °Cno data
Number of transistors2,270 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 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 configuration11
SocketFCLGA2011FCBGA1090
Power consumption (TDP)130 Watt6 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVXIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NI++
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data-
Turbo Boost Technology2.0-
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Smart Response+-
Demand Based Switching-no data
GPIOno data+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data-

Security technologies

Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-no data
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
MPX-+
Identity Protection++
SGXno dataYes with Intel® ME
OS Guardno data+
Anti-Theftno data-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4
Maximum memory size64 GB8 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidth51.2 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel UHD Graphics 600
Max video memoryno data8 GB
Quick Sync Video-+
Graphics max frequencyno data650 MHz
Execution Unitsno data12

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data3
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
MIPI-DSIno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution supportno data+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096x2160@30Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data4096x2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.4

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes406
USB revisionno data2.0/3.0
Total number of SATA portsno data2
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Portsno data2
Number of USB portsno data8
Integrated LANno data-
UARTno data+

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.

i7-3960X 5.42
+447%
Celeron N4020 0.99

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.

i7-3960X 8445
+445%
Celeron N4020 1549

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.

i7-3960X 668
+94.8%
Celeron N4020 343

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.

i7-3960X 3218
+487%
Celeron N4020 548

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.

i7-3960X 5014
+130%
Celeron N4020 2184

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.

i7-3960X 27190
+514%
Celeron N4020 4427

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.

i7-3960X 8330
+234%
Celeron N4020 2495

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.

i7-3960X 5.12
+479%
Celeron N4020 29.66

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.

i7-3960X 11
+515%
Celeron N4020 2

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-3960X 1158
+811%
Celeron N4020 127

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.

i7-3960X 159
+116%
Celeron N4020 74

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.

i7-3960X 1.52
+61.7%
Celeron N4020 0.94

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.

i7-3960X 5.2
+447%
Celeron N4020 1

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.  

i7-3960X 55
+450%
Celeron N4020 10

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.  

i7-3960X 173
+245%
Celeron N4020 50

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.

i7-3960X 4205
+449%
Celeron N4020 766

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.42 0.99
Recency 14 November 2011 4 November 2019
Physical cores 6 2
Threads 12 2
Chip lithography 32 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 130 Watt 6 Watt

i7-3960X has a 447.5% higher aggregate performance score, and 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads.

Celeron N4020, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 7 years, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 2066.7% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-3960X is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron N4020 in performance tests.

Note that Core i7-3960X is a desktop processor while Celeron N4020 is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3960X and Celeron N4020, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i7-3960X
Core i7-3960X
Intel Celeron N4020
Celeron N4020

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Community ratings

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