Xeon E5-2680 v4 vs i7-6950X

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6950X
2016
10 cores / 20 threads, 140 Watt
10.92
Xeon E5-2680 v4
2016
14 cores / 28 threads, 120 Watt
11.12
+1.8%

Xeon E5-2680 v4 outperforms Core i7-6950X by a minimal 2% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking719705
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.892.98
Market segmentDesktop processorServer
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Xeon (Desktop)
Power efficiency7.388.77
Architecture codenameBroadwell-E (2016)Broadwell-EP (2016)
Release date31 May 2016 (8 years ago)20 June 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$1,745

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5-2680 v4 has 235% better value for money than i7-6950X.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4 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 cores10 (Deca-Core)14 (Tetradeca-Core)
Threads2028
Base clock speed3 GHz2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz3.3 GHz
Bus typeno dataQPI
Bus rate9.6 GT/s / QPI2 × 9.6 GT/s
Multiplierno data24
L1 cache32K (per core)448 KB
L2 cache256K (per core)3.5 MB
L3 cache25 MB (shared)35 MB
Chip lithography14 nm14 nm
Die size246 mm2306.18 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data86 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
Number of transistors3,800 million4700 Million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4 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 configuration12 (Multiprocessor)
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA2011
Power consumption (TDP)140 Watt120 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring-+
Flex Memory Accessno data-
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switchingno data+
PAEno data46 Bit
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+no data

Security technologies

Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133, DDR4-2400
Maximum memory size128 GB1.5 TB
Max memory channels44
Maximum memory bandwidthno data76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes4040

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.

i7-6950X 10.92
Xeon E5-2680 v4 11.12
+1.8%

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.

i7-6950X 17340
Xeon E5-2680 v4 17664
+1.9%

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.

i7-6950X 1316
+28.9%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 1021

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.

i7-6950X 8570
+23.9%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 6917

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.

i7-6950X 6231
+68.1%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 3707

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.

i7-6950X 40378
+30.6%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 30922

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.

i7-6950X 10658
+28.6%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 8286

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.

i7-6950X 20
+13.3%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 18

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-6950X 1859
+12.2%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 1657

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.

i7-6950X 156
+55.5%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 100

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.

i7-6950X 1.9
+68.1%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 1.13

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.

i7-6950X 10.5
+11.7%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 9.4

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.

i7-6950X 8450
+33.6%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 6323

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.  

i7-6950X 101
+27.7%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 79

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.  

i7-6950X 196
+43.5%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 137

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

i7-6950X 31129
+15.5%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 26961

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

i7-6950X 3387
+48.9%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 2275

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit multi-core

i7-6950X 26761
+26.3%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 21194

Geekbench 4.0 64-bit single-core

i7-6950X 4049
+36.7%
Xeon E5-2680 v4 2961

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 10.92 11.12
Physical cores 10 14
Threads 20 28
Power consumption (TDP) 140 Watt 120 Watt

Xeon E5-2680 v4 has a 1.8% higher aggregate performance score, 40% more physical cores and 40% more threads, and 16.7% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4.

Note that Core i7-6950X is a desktop processor while Xeon E5-2680 v4 is a server/workstation one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6950X and Xeon E5-2680 v4, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6950X
Core i7-6950X
Intel Xeon E5-2680 v4
Xeon E5-2680 v4

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Community ratings

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