i9-9980XE vs i7-6700K

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6700K
2015
4 cores / 8 threads, 91 Watt
5.83
Core i9-9980XE
2018
18 cores / 36 threads, 165 Watt
19.03
+226%

Core i9-9980XE outperforms Core i7-6700K by a whopping 226% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking1130319
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.134.06
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Core i9
Power efficiency5.8410.52
Architecture codenameSkylake (2015−2016)Skylake (server) (2017−2019)
Release date1 September 2015 (9 years ago)19 October 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$339$1,979

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i9-9980XE has 259% better value for money than i7-6700K.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)18 (Octadeca-Core)
Threads836
Base clock speed4 GHz3 GHz
Boost clock speed4.2 GHz4.5 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0DMI 3.0
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier4030
L1 cache256 KB64 KB (per core)
L2 cache1 MB1 MB (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)24.75 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm14 nm
Die size122 mm2484 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data84 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)64 °Cno data
Number of transistors1750 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA2066
Power consumption (TDP)91 Watt165 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX++
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+

Security technologies

Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-no data
EDB++
Secure Key+no data
MPX+-
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR4
Maximum memory size64 GB128 GB
Max memory channels24
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/s85.33 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel HD Graphics 530N/A
Max video memory64 GBno data
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHzno data
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3no data
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over VGAN/Ano data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.5no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes1644

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.

i7-6700K 5.83
i9-9980XE 19.03
+226%

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.

i7-6700K 8929
i9-9980XE 29127
+226%

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.

i7-6700K 1505
+4.7%
i9-9980XE 1438

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.

i7-6700K 4942
i9-9980XE 11452
+132%

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.

i7-6700K 6531
i9-9980XE 7323
+12.1%

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.

i7-6700K 25817
i9-9980XE 58001
+125%

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.

i7-6700K 9037
i9-9980XE 13495
+49.3%

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.

i7-6700K 6.66
i9-9980XE 2.74
+143%

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.

i7-6700K 10
i9-9980XE 39
+300%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-6700K 880
i9-9980XE 3736
+324%

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.

i7-6700K 178
i9-9980XE 198
+11.3%

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.

i7-6700K 1.97
i9-9980XE 2.22
+12.7%

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.

i7-6700K 4.4
i9-9980XE 18.1
+316%

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.  

i7-6700K 55
i9-9980XE 156
+186%

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.  

i7-6700K 205
i9-9980XE 207
+0.8%

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.

i7-6700K 5877
i9-9980XE 6879
+17%

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

i7-6700K 16365
i9-9980XE 80967
+395%

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

i7-6700K 4225
i9-9980XE 4875
+15.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.83 19.03
Recency 1 September 2015 19 October 2018
Physical cores 4 18
Threads 8 36
Power consumption (TDP) 91 Watt 165 Watt

i7-6700K has 81.3% lower power consumption.

i9-9980XE, on the other hand, has a 226.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, and 350% more physical cores and 350% more threads.

The Core i9-9980XE is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-6700K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6700K and Core i9-9980XE, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6700K
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