Ryzen 9 7950X vs Xeon E5-2660 v3

Place in the ranking	909	66
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	7.44	21.97
Architecture codename	Haswell-EP (2014−2015)	Raphael (Zen 4) (2022)
Release date	8 September 2014 (10 years ago)	27 September 2022 (2 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X 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 cores	10 (Deca-Core)	16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Threads	20	32
Base clock speed	2.6 GHz	4.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	5.7 GHz
Bus rate	9.6 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	64K (per core)
L2 cache	256K (per core)	1 MB (per core)
L3 cache	25 MB (shared)	64 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	5 nm
Die size	356 mm²	CCD = 2x 70 sq. mm, I/O = 122 mm²
Maximum core temperature	79 °C	95 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	47 °C
Number of transistors	2,600 million	13140 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X 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 configuration	2	1
Socket	FCLGA2011	AM5
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	170 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX2	CCD = 5 nm, I/O = 6 nm, 0.650 - 1.475 V
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data
PAE	46 Bit	no data
Precision Boost 2	no data	+

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
OS Guard	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133	DDR5-5200
Maximum memory size	768 GB	no data
Max memory channels	4	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	68 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000) (400 - 2200 MHz)

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X.

PCIe version	3.0	5.0
PCI Express lanes	40	24

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.

Xeon E5-2660 v3 8.26

Ryzen 9 7950X 39.47
+378%

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.

Xeon E5-2660 v3 13120

Ryzen 9 7950X 62704
+378%

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.

Xeon E5-2660 v3 977

Ryzen 9 7950X 2985
+206%

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.

Xeon E5-2660 v3 5875

Ryzen 9 7950X 19451
+231%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.26	39.47
Recency	8 September 2014	27 September 2022
Physical cores	10	16
Threads	20	32
Chip lithography	22 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	170 Watt

Xeon E5-2660 v3 has 61.9% lower power consumption.

Ryzen 9 7950X, on the other hand, has a 377.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, 60% more physical cores and 60% more threads, and a 340% more advanced lithography process.

The Ryzen 9 7950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E5-2660 v3 in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E5-2660 v3 is a server/workstation processor while Ryzen 9 7950X is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2660 v3 and Ryzen 9 7950X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.