Intel Core i7 6950X Broadwell-E (10-core) CPU Review

1. Introduction2. Closer Look and New Features3. Overclocking Setup4. Test System and Methodology5. CPU Benchmarks6. Memory Benchmarks7. Gaming Benchmarks8. Power Consumption and Temperatures9. Conclusion10. View All Pages

Z97 Test System

• Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K and Core i7 5775C.
• Memory: 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2400MHz (10-12-12-31, 1.65v).
• Motherboard: ASRock Z97 OC Formula
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
• System Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
• Games Drive: Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i w/ Noctua NTH1
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 760W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

Z170 Test System

• Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K.
• Memory: 32GB (4 x 8GB) G.SKill Trident Z DDR4 3200MHz (14-14-14-34, 1.35v).
• Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming.
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
• System Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
• Games Drive: Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i w/ Noctua NTH1
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 760W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

X99 Test System

• Processor: Intel Core i7 5820K, i7 5960X and i7 6950X.
• Memory: 32GB (4 x 8GB) G.SKill Trident Z DDR4 3200MHz (14-14-14-34, 1.35v).
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X99 Gaming.
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
• System Drive: Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD
• Games Drive: Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i w/ Noctua NTH1
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 760W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

Software tests:

• 3DMark – Firestrike (1080p) test.
• WPrime – 1024M and 32M pi calculations.
• Cinebench R15 – single-core and multi-core CPU tests.
• SiSoft Sandra – Memory bandwidth test sequence.
• AIDA64 Engineer – memory bandwidth and latency test, system stability test for power consumption and temperatures.
• Handbrake – video file transcoding of a HD movie into the Android preset.

Games:

• Ashes Of The Singularity – built in benchmark tool at 1080p using the Crazy detail preset.
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – built-in benchmark tool at 1080p using ultra preset.
• Grand Theft Auto 5 – built-in benchmark tool at 1080p with custom settings.

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