Intel Core i7-5960X, -5930K And -5820K CPU Review: Haswell-E Rises

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How We Tested Core i7-5960X, -5930K, And -5820K

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Test Hardware
ProcessorsIntel Core i7-5960X (Haswell-E) Eight cores, 3.0 GHz (30 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011-3, 20 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 1 - Cell 0 Intel Core i7-5930K (Haswell-E) Six cores, 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011-3, 15 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 2 - Cell 0 Intel Core i7-5820K (Haswell-E) Six cores, 3.3 GHz (33 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011-3, 15 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 3 - Cell 0 Intel Xeon E5-2687W v2 (Ivy Bridge-EP) Eight cores, 3.4 GHz (34 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 25 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 4 - Cell 0 Intel Core i7-4960X (Ivy Bridge-E) Six cores, 3.6 GHz (36 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 5 - Cell 0 Intel Core i7-3970X (Sandy Bridge-E) Six cores, 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3 Cache, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
Row 6 - Cell 0 Intel Core i7-4790K (Haswell) Four cores, 4.0 GHz (40 * 100 MHz), LGA 1150, 8 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled
MotherboardASRock X99 WS (LGA 2011-3) Intel X99 Express, BIOS 1.18
Row 8 - Cell 0 MSI X79A-GD45 Plus (LGA 2011) Intel X79 Express, BIOS 17.8
Row 9 - Cell 0 MSI Z97 Gaming 7 (LGA 1150) Intel Z97 Express, BIOS 1.5
MemoryG.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000, F4-3000C15Q-16GRR @ DDR3-2133 at 1.2 V (for stock run tests)
Row 11 - Cell 0 G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-2133, F3-17000CL9Q-16GBXM @ DDR3-1866 and -1600 at 1.5 V (for stock run tests)
Hard DriveSamsung 840 Pro 256 GB, SATA 6 Gb/s
GraphicsNvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB
Power SupplyCorsair AX860i, 80 PLUS Platinum, 860 W
Heat SinkNoctua NH-D15, Fan set to 100% duty cycle
System Software And Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 8.1 Professional x64
DirectXDirectX 11
Graphics DriverNvidia GeForce Release 340.52

A number of companies helped us prepare for Haswell-E.

Because Intel is no longer in the motherboard business, it doesn’t have a platform of its own to send out. Instead, we worked closely with ASRock to benchmark using its X99 WS. MSI also supported our efforts by sending over several X99 SLI Plus boards.

Noctua helped us standardize on one high-performance air cooler by sending over its NH-D15, which is LGA 2011-3-compatible.

Representatives at G.Skill diligently helped us troubleshoot memory issues early in our testing, passing along their own experiences dialing in higher DDR4 data rates.

And of course, several other standardized components carry over from our existing bench setup: Corsair’s AX860i power supply, Samsung’s 840 Pro SSD, and a GeForce GTX Titan graphics card.

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Benchmark Configuration
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe After Effects CCVersion 12.0.0.404 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly
Adobe Photoshop CCVersion 14.0 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Adobe Premeire Pro CCVersion 7.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
LAME MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.9.9: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
TotalCode Studio 2.5Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
ABBYY FineReaderVersion 11.0.102.583: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Acrobat XIVersion 11.0.0: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 and 2013Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
BlenderVersion: 2.68a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1
Visual Studio 2010Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted
File Compression
WinZipVersion 18.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRARVersion 5.0: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-ZipVersion 9.30 Alpha: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.5
PCMark 8Version: 2.0, Creative (Conventional)
Intel Core i7-5960X
Intel Core i7-5930K
Intel Core i7-5820K

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
181 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dovah-chan
    Oh boy here we go...
    Reply
  • Merry_Blind
    Affordable 8-cores from Intel are finally coming. Awesome.
    Reply
  • B4vB5
    Chris and Igor @ TomsHW,

    Bit disappointed to not see a comparison with the Xeon E5-1650v2(or 1660v2), as the 2600 is a bit overkill comparing prices. Some of us just need a workstation with ECC ram and not just a free-for-all(ie someone else is paying) Xeon 2600 fest.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    Out of curiosity why were so many of the gaming tests only done at 2560x1440? Seems like you would be more GPU bound at this resolution. I'm not sure it really matters but I do like gaming at 1080p for the very high frame rates was curious if these would push frame rates higher. Otherwise nice review.
    Reply
  • ohim
    14063555 said:
    Affordable 8-cores from Intel are finally coming. Awesome.

    1000$ is affordable to you ? :))

    14063653 said:
    Out of curiosity why were so many of the gaming tests only done at 2560x1440? Seems like you would be more GPU bound at this resolution. I'm not sure it really matters but I do like gaming at 1080p for the very high frame rates was curious if these would push frame rates higher. Otherwise nice review.


    Though you have a point here, the guy buying such CPUs most likely will game at above 1080p .. but this would have implied using 2 GPUs at least in the test.
    Reply
  • chiefpiggy
    Why do they call these their "5th generation" of Intel core processors if they're refreshes of the Haswell processors? I get that they have revolutionary technology within but with the release of broadwell so soon I doubt that anyone would buy these processors..
    Reply
  • envy14tpe
    I need this system to play Minecraft. with that aside, Intel finally has made a jump in i7s value and performance.
    Reply
  • therogerwilco
    Meh, looks like I'll be keepin my uber delid'd oc'd 4770k a bit longer
    Reply
  • srap
    "Single-threaded software is so last decade, though."
    I have a hunch that we will never see anything like this in the comment sections of AMD reviews. Not sure why :D
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    Yeah the real winner of a cpu here is definitely the 5820K. If I were building now, that is what I would use.
    Reply