AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs Intel Core i9-9960X

Comparative analysis of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Core i9-9960X processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Security & Reliability. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

Intel Core i9-9960X

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 1 month(s) later
Around 11% higher clock speed: 4.9 GHz vs 4.40 GHz
Around 12% higher maximum core temperature: 95 °C vs 85°C
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 7 nm vs 14 nm
2.9x more L3 cache, more data can be stored in the L3 cache for quick access later
Around 57% lower typical power consumption: 105 Watt vs 165 Watt
Around 14% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 2972 vs 2617

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	5 Nov 2020 vs October 2018
Maximum frequency	4.9 GHz vs 4.40 GHz
Maximum core temperature	95 °C vs 85°C
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm vs 14 nm
L3 cache	64 MB vs 22 MB (shared)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	105 Watt vs 165 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	2972 vs 2617

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i9-9960X

4 more cores, run more applications at once: 16 vs 12
8 more threads: 32 vs 24
2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
2.3x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 30618 vs 13220
Around 11% better performance in 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score: 13076 vs 11823

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	16 vs 12
Number of threads	32 vs 24
L2 cache	1 MB (per core) vs 8 MB
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	30618 vs 13220
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score	13076 vs 11823

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
CPU 2: Intel Core i9-9960X

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

2972

2617

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

13220

30618

3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score

CPU 1

CPU 2

11823

13076

Name	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X	Intel Core i9-9960X
PassMark - Single thread mark	2972	2617
PassMark - CPU mark	13220	30618
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score	11823	13076
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		1158
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		14294

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X	Intel Core i9-9960X
Essentials
Architecture codename	Zen 3	Skylake
Launch date	5 Nov 2020	October 2018
Launch price (MSRP)	$799
OPN PIB	100-100000059WOF
OPN Tray	100-000000059
Place in performance rating	607	620
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Processor Number		i9-9960X
Series		Intel® Core™ X-series Processors
Status		Launched
Performance
Base frequency	3.4 GHz	3.10 GHz
L1 cache	1 MB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	8 MB	1 MB (per core)
L3 cache	64 MB	22 MB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	95 °C	85°C
Maximum frequency	4.9 GHz	4.40 GHz
Number of cores	12	16
Number of threads	24	32
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed		8 GT/s DMI3
Number of QPI Links		0
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	2	4
Maximum memory bandwidth	47.68 GB/s
Maximum memory size	128 GB	128 GB
Supported memory types	DDR4-3200	DDR4-2666
Compatibility
Sockets supported	AM4	FCLGA2066
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	105 Watt	165 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Thermal Solution		PCG 2017X
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	20	44
PCI Express revision	4.0	3.0
PCIe configurations	1x16+x4, 2x8+x4, 1x8+2x4+x4
Scalability		1S Only
Advanced Technologies
AMD SenseMI
AMD StoreMI technology
Fused Multiply-Add 3 (FMA3)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
Intel 64
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Optane™ Memory Supported
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Number of AVX-512 FMA Units		2
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)