i5-6500 vs i7-9700K

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-9700K
2018
8 cores / 8 threads, 95 Watt
9.14
+157%
Core i5-6500
2015
4 cores / 4 threads, 65 Watt
3.55

Core i7-9700K outperforms Core i5-6500 by a whopping 157% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking8351516
Place by popularitynot in top-10028
Cost-effectiveness evaluation7.130.70
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Core i5 (Desktop)
Power efficiency9.075.15
Architecture codenameCoffee Lake-R (2018−2019)Skylake (2015−2016)
Release date8 October 2018 (6 years ago)1 September 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$374$192

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i7-9700K has 919% better value for money than i5-6500.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 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)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads84
Base clock speed3.6 GHz3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed4.9 GHz3.6 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0DMI 3.0
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier3632
L1 cache512 KB256 KB
L2 cache2 MB1 MB
L3 cache12 MB (shared)6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm14 nm
Die size178 mm2122 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °C72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 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)
SocketLGA-1151FCLGA1151
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500. 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
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
TSX++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
SIPP++

Security technologies

Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
MPX++
Identity Protection++
SGXYes with Intel® MEYes with Intel® ME
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3, DDR4
Maximum memory size128 GB64 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/s34.134 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel UHD Graphics 630Intel HD Graphics 530
Max video memory64 GB64 GB
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video++
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.2 GHz1.05 GHz
InTru 3D++

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
DVIno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support++
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2304@24Hz4096x2304@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hz4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hz4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over VGAno dataN/A

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212
OpenGL4.54.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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.

i7-9700K 9.14
+157%
i5-6500 3.55

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.

i7-9700K 14459
+157%
i5-6500 5624

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.

i7-9700K 1694
+41.3%
i5-6500 1199

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.

i7-9700K 7192
+120%
i5-6500 3269

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.

i7-9700K 7653
+33.2%
i5-6500 5746

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.

i7-9700K 42778
+119%
i5-6500 19577

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.

i7-9700K 12928
+94.3%
i5-6500 6653

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.

i7-9700K 4.49
+136%
i5-6500 10.6

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.

i7-9700K 16
+149%
i5-6500 6

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-9700K 1449
+168%
i5-6500 542

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.

i7-9700K 206
+40.3%
i5-6500 147

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.

i7-9700K 2.37
+36.2%
i5-6500 1.74

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.

i7-9700K 8.1
+179%
i5-6500 2.9

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.  

i7-9700K 95
+163%
i5-6500 36

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.  

i7-9700K 270
+54.7%
i5-6500 175

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.

i7-9700K 7396
+139%
i5-6500 3100

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.14 3.55
Integrated graphics card 3.09 2.59
Recency 8 October 2018 1 September 2015
Physical cores 8 4
Threads 8 4
Power consumption (TDP) 95 Watt 65 Watt

i7-9700K has a 157.5% higher aggregate performance score, 19.3% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 3 years, and 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.

i5-6500, on the other hand, has 46.2% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-9700K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-6500 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-9700K and Core i5-6500, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Similar processor comparisons

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Community ratings

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