Intel Core i7 4960X EE CPU / Asus X79-Deluxe Motherboard Review

To test the Intel Core i7 4960X Extreme Edition processor, we paired it with Asus‘ refreshed X79-Deluxe motherboard. We will be comparing the 4960X processor's performance to that of SB-E's 3930K (due to its immense popularity), the Haswell 4770K, and AMD's previous flagship – the FX-8350 Black Edition. All processors are partnered with identical hardware and software (except for the motherboard and its drivers), so the results are directly comparable.

By default, the Asus X79-Deluxe motherboard (as well as many other X79 parts) forces the Intel Core i7 4960X EE to constantly operate at its maximum turbo speed of 4.0GHz when XMP is enabled. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting. We could have turned the option off, but as the same process is applied to the other Intel processors that we are using as comparisons, we left it enabled.

On one hand, this shows the Intel processors operating slightly faster than they would if ‘forced turbo' was disabled. On the other hand, this setting is automatically applied to most motherboards (especially when XMP is used), therefore testing with it activated is arguably more representative of real world performance and power consumption figures.

We will also be running some of the most CPU-intensive tests with each processor overclocked to its maximum, widely-achievable level. Research tells us that 4.5GHz is a safe bet for many Core i7 4770K chips, 4.8GHz is achievable with many 3930K processors, and many of AMD's FX-8350 CPUs are capable of 4.6GHz. We didn't want to go any higher on the comparison processor frequencies as that may see us entering territory that many end users cannot reach.

The Intel Core i7 4960X Extreme Edition processor will be operating at 4.60GHz for overclocked performance testing.

Another test that we will use is a clock-per-clock comparison. This comes in the form of two single-threaded benchmarks that are run by each processor operating at the same frequency of 4.40GHz. Using single-threaded benchmarks allows us to take core count out of the equation and give an insight into any architectural performance differentials.

Test System – Common Components:

• Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) Patriot Viper 3 2133MHz CL11 (quad channel for X79, dual channel for Z87 and 990FX).
• Graphics Card: nVidia GTX 760 2GB.
• System Drive: 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K SSD.
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i.
• Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (with SP1).

Comparison Processor and Motherboard Configurations (stock speeds):

• Intel Core i7 3930K (3.20GHz / 3.80GHz forced Turbo) & Asus X79-Deluxe.
• Intel Core i7 4770K (3.50GHz / 3.90GHz forced Turbo) & ASRock Z87 OC Formula.
• AMD FX-8350 Black Edition (4.00GHz) & ASRock 990FX Extreme9.

Comparison Processor Configurations (overclocked speeds):

• Intel Core i7 4960X (4.60GHz @ 1.400V, Extreme LLC).
• Intel Core i7 3930K (4.80GHz @ 1.400V, Ultra High LLC).
• Intel Core i7 4770K (4.50GHz @ 1.350V, Level 1 LLC).
• AMD FX-8350 Black Edition (4.60GHz @ 1.575V, 100% LLC, 2000MHz HT Link speed [set by motherboard]).

Settings:

• Asus X79-Deluxe BIOS 0253.
• GeForce 320.49 VGA drivers.
• Intel 9.3.2.1010 chipset drivers.

Software Suite:

• PCMark 8 (System)
• 3DMark (System)
• 3DMark 11 (System)
• 3DMark Vantage (System)
• Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 (System)
• SiSoft Sandra 2013 SP4 (CPU)
• Cinebench 11.5 64 bit (CPU)
• Hyper Pi (CPU) (Except AMD FX-8350 due to x87 issues)
• Super Pi (CPU) (Except AMD FX-8350 due to x87 issues)
• WinRAR 4.20 (CPU)
• VLC Media Player 2.0.8 (CPU)
• CyberLink Media Espresso 6.7 (CPU)
• HandBrake 0.9.9 (CPU)
• ATTO (Motherboard)
• Battlefield 3 (Gaming)
• Metro 2033(Gaming)
• Sleeping Dogs(Gaming)

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