i3-4030U vs i7-5960X

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-5960X
2014
8 cores / 16 threads, 140 Watt
8.02
+580%
Core i3-4030U
2014
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
1.18

Core i7-5960X outperforms Core i3-4030U by a whopping 580% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking9312352
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.75no data
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
SeriesCore i7 (Desktop)Intel Core i3
Power efficiency5.427.44
Architecture codenameHaswell-E (2014)Haswell (2013−2015)
Release date1 September 2014 (10 years ago)14 April 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$999$281

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U 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 cores8 (Octa-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads164
Base clock speed3 GHz1.9 GHz
Boost clock speed3.5 GHz1.9 GHz
Bus rate0 GT/s5 GT/s
L1 cache64K (per core)128 KB
L2 cache256K (per core)512 KB
L3 cache20 MB (shared)3 MB
Chip lithography22 nm22 nm
Die size356 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature67 °C100 °C
Number of transistors2,600 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U 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
SocketFCLGA2011FCBGA1168
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.0-
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
GPIOno data+
Smart Connectno data+
FDIno data-
AMTno data9.5
Matrix Storageno data-
HD Audiono data+
RSTno data+

Security technologies

Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+-
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
Identity Protection++
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size64 GB16 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidth68 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel HD Graphics 4400
Max video memoryno data2 GB
Quick Sync Video-+
Clear Video HDno data+
Graphics max frequencyno data1 GHz
InTru 3Dno data+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U integrated GPUs.

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

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data3200x2000@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data3200x2000@60Hz
Max resolution over VGAno dataN/A

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data11.2/12
OpenGLno data4.3

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes4012
PCI supportno data-
USB revisionno data3.0
Total number of SATA portsno data4
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Portsno data4
Integrated IDEno data-
Number of USB portsno data4
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.

i7-5960X 8.02
+580%
i3-4030U 1.18

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.

i7-5960X 12744
+580%
i3-4030U 1875

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.

i7-5960X 1322
+128%
i3-4030U 581

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.

i7-5960X 7496
+537%
i3-4030U 1177

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.

i7-5960X 5193
+84.9%
i3-4030U 2808

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.

i7-5960X 33929
+440%
i3-4030U 6285

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.

i7-5960X 9924
+294%
i3-4030U 2520

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.

i7-5960X 4.25
+523%
i3-4030U 26.46

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.

i7-5960X 15
+641%
i3-4030U 2

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-5960X 1387
+626%
i3-4030U 191

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.

i7-5960X 139
+98.6%
i3-4030U 70

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.

i7-5960X 1.53
+91.3%
i3-4030U 0.8

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.

i7-5960X 8.2
+645%
i3-4030U 1.1

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.  

i7-5960X 82
+580%
i3-4030U 12

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.  

i7-5960X 191
+195%
i3-4030U 65

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.

i7-5960X 7049
+201%
i3-4030U 2344

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 8.02 1.18
Recency 1 September 2014 14 April 2014
Physical cores 8 2
Threads 16 4
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 15 Watt

i7-5960X has a 579.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 months, and 300% more physical cores and 300% more threads.

i3-4030U, on the other hand, has 833.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-5960X is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-4030U in performance tests.

Note that Core i7-5960X is a desktop processor while Core i3-4030U is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-5960X and Core i3-4030U, 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 i7-5960X
Core i7-5960X
Intel Core i3-4030U
Core i3-4030U

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