Intel Core i7-4960X vs Core i7-3960X Gaming-Performance SLI
Category : 2014
Published by Marc Büchel on 07.03.14
In our CPU Gaming Perforamnce articles we're investigating what difference the processor makes regarding gaming performance. Other than that we we're sharing some thoughts whether an upgrade makes sense in our opinion or not. After having a close look at CPU gaming performance with a single GPU setup we now want to know what difference the CPU makes in a dual GPU setup, where we're using two high-end graphics cards. As usual, we're curious to see what performance gap there is going to be.
[pagebreak]
Test Setup
Hardware
|
Mainboard |
|
| CPUs |
- Intel Core i7-4960X @ Stock (Turbo On)
- Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.5GHz (Turbo On)
- Intel Core i7-4960X @ Stock (Turbo On)
- Intel Core i7-4960X @ 4.5GHz (Turbo On)
|
|
Memory |
- 4x4GB Corsair Dominator Platinum @ CL9-9-9-24 1T DDR3-1600 MHz
|
|
Graphic Cards (Driver) |
-
2 x
ASUS GeForce GTX
780 DC2 OC @ 889 MHz /
1'500 MHz
|
| Drivers |
|
| Games and OS |
- Windows 7 x64 (Up to date
on the 25/07/2013
- All
games were up to date on the 25/07/2013)
|
|
HDD |
- OCZ Technology Octane 512 GB SSD
|
PSU
|
- Seasonic Patinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
| Overall Score |
Points |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
14'261 |
101.18 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
14'863 |
105.45 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
14'095 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
14'604 |
103.61 % |
| |
More is better |
| GPU Score |
Points |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
18'175 |
101.82 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
18'237 |
102.17 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
17'850 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
18'059 |
101.17 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
| Basic Preset |
Points |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
4'800 |
113.42 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
6'563 |
155.08 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
4'232 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
5'855 |
138.35 % |
| |
More is better |
| Extreme Preset |
Points |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
2'749 |
111.39 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
2'990 |
121.15 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
2'468 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
2'909 |
117.87 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
BattleField 4
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
169.41 |
130.12 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
172.82 |
132.73 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
130.20 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
165.39 |
127.03 % |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
108.29 |
117.36 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
117.21 |
127.03 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
92.27 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
112.54 |
121.97 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
BattleField 3
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
183.27 |
114.39 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
185.35 |
115.69 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
160.21 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
188.21 |
117.48
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
SLI |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
132.54 |
125.49 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
136.87 |
129.59 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
105.62 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
128.14 |
121.32 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Bioshock Infinite - Benchmark
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
268.39 |
109.44 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
342.61 |
139.71 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
245.23 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
296.32 |
120.83
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
244.70 |
114.79 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
291.18 |
136.60 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
213.17 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
263.13 |
123.44 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Crysis 3
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
136.29 |
105.72 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
160.82 |
124.74 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
128.92 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
152.38 |
118.20
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
87.10 |
108.60 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
95.70 |
119.33 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
80.20 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
91.30 |
113.84 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Call of Duty Black Ops 2
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
517.70 |
141.67 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
656.12 |
179.55 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
365.42 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
583.26 |
159.61
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
257.81 |
123.73 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
278.02 |
133.43 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
208.36 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
246.99 |
118.54 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark
| 1280 x 1024, Low
details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
195.20 |
119.17 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
233.80 |
142.74 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
163.80 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
209.40 |
127.84
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, max
details, max AA, max AF |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
94.80 |
100.32 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
108.20 |
114.50 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
94.50 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
109.00 |
115.34 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
| 1280 x 720, Low details |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
310.24 |
150.93 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
357.37 |
173.86 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
205.55 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
295.95 |
143.98
% |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, All set to
Max |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
133.20 |
119.38 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
153.85 |
137.88 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
111.58 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
142.86 |
128.03 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Metro: Last Light - Benchmark
| 1280 x 1024,
Preset low |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
143.24 |
107.74 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
168.78 |
126.95 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
132.95 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
160.52 |
120.74 % |
| |
More is better |
| 1920 x 1080, Preset
high |
fps |
Scaling |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
65.48 |
103.15 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
68.85 |
108.46 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
63.48 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
67.18 |
105.83 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Power
Consumption
| idle |
Watt |
Index |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
101 |
87.83 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
162 |
140.87 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
115 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
209 |
181.74 % |
| |
less is better |
| Furmark |
Watt |
Index |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
535 |
79.26 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
640 |
94.81 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
675 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
724 |
107.26 % |
| |
less is
better |
[pagebreak]
Performance Index
| Low |
Index |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
122.40 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
142.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
129.46 % |
| |
More is better |
| High |
Index |
| Intel Core i7-4960X Stock |
114.10 % |
| Intel Core i7-4960X 4.5G |
125.85 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i7-3960X 4.5G |
118.54 % |
| |
More is better |
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
Having a closer look at the results we gathered
while testing eight different
games and two different benchmarks with two different presets, we see that the
Intel Core i7-4960X, with our "low-preset" is on average 22 percent faster than the
Core i7-3960X. Switching to our "high-preset" makes the Intel Core
i7-4960X's
become 14 percent quicker than the Core i7-3960X. Overclocking the Intel Core
i7-4960X to 4.5 GHz makes the performance
with our "low-preset" go up by 20 percent but when it comes to the high-preset
the increase in performance is only 11 percent. Regarding the Core i7-3960X the
situation is a little bit different: 29 percent gain with "low-preset" and
18 percent
with "high-preset". Other than that a quick look at power consumption
is also interesting. In this case we see that overclocking the Core
i7-4960X to 4.5 GHz makes power consumption to go up by 20 percent. With the
Core i7-3960X we see there is only an additional 7
percent needed.
In the past we've been testing the same system equipped with only one high-end
single GPU graphics card. Especially in case of our high-preset the graphics
card is then going to be the limiting factor, meaning changing the CPU or even
overclocking processors doesn't make for a decent performance difference. As
soon as we're adding a second high-end graphics card, the bottleneck regarding
graphics cards is open and overclocking CPU architecture as well as CPU clocks
will make a difference even with the high preset.
Should you be thinking about buying a Core i7-4960X processor for your gaming
PC, in which you have two high-end graphics cards running in SLI, then the
performance gain, when upgrading from a Core i7-3960X to a Core i7-4960X is
going to be about 14 percent on average. Keeping in mind this CPU costs no less
than 900 Euro we should be asking ourselves if this is really worth the
additional money. If you put in perspective what difference a new graphics card
can make regarding frames per second, then the answer is simply: no. But should
you be one of the power users who always demands the best possible components,
then the Core i7-4960X certainly is an upgrade.
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