| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processors | Intel 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Motherboard | ASRock X99 WS (LGA 2011-3) Intel X99 Express, BIOS 1.18 |
| MSI X79A-GD45 Plus (LGA 2011) Intel X79 Express, BIOS 17.8 | |
| MSI Z97 Gaming 7 (LGA 1150) Intel Z97 Express, BIOS 1.5 | |
| Memory | G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000, F4-3000C15Q-16GRR @ DDR3-2133 at 1.2 V (for stock run tests) |
| 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 Drive | Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB, SATA 6 Gb/s |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX860i, 80 PLUS Platinum, 860 W |
| Heat Sink | Noctua NH-D15, Fan set to 100% duty cycle |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 Professional x64 |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | Nvidia 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.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CC | Version 12.0.0.404 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly |
| Adobe Photoshop CC | Version 14.0 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premeire Pro CC | Version 7.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| LAME MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 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 2.5 | Version: 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 FineReader | Version 11.0.102.583: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Acrobat XI | Version 11.0.0: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 and 2013 | Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version: 2.68a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 18.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 5.0: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 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 11 | Version: 1.0.5 |
| PCMark 8 | Version: 2.0, Creative (Conventional) |
- Three New CPUs For Enthusiasts
- X99, LGA 2011-3 and DDR4: Get Ready For A Big Upgrade
- How We Tested Core i7-5960X, -5930K, And -5820K
- Synthetic Benchmarks
- Real-World Benchmarks
- Battlefield 4, Grid 2, And Metro: Last Light
- Star Swarm, Thief, Tomb Raider, And WoW
- Power, In Depth: Stock Clock Rates
- Power, In Depth: Eight and Six Cores at 3.5 GHz
- Power, In Depth: Eight and Six Cores at 4 GHz
- Power, In Depth: Eight and Six Cores at 4.5 GHz
- Power, In Depth: CPU Health at 4.8 GHz
- Measuring DDR4 Power Consumption
- Power Consumption Through Our Benchmark Suite
- Intel Keeps Enthusiasts On Its Most Modern Design With Haswell-E
Personally, the 3DS and After Effects benchmarks were of most interest, since they are what I spend most of the CPU time on. (3DS in particular, right now I'm logging dozens of CPU hours a day on 3DS alone). It's pretty clear that unless the platform costs of Haswell-E are much higher than IB-E, going with the old won't make sense. The 5930k beats the 4960X. which is at least 50% more expensive.
I've been waiting forever for an upgrade to my i7 930 based workstation, and I didn't feel like jumping on an IB-E a couple months before a brand-new HEDT platform is released.
I had hoped Haswell-E would be a bit more impressive, but OTOH, investing in a DDR4 platform now might be a good idea, given my workstations typically have 3-4 years in them. At the very least, a drop-in upgrade to Broadwell-E would be nice to have as an option.
Now to see how big a pounding I'll take in Denmark for X99/DDR4/Haswell-E...
Therefore anybody who's going to load up on GPUs enough to worry about PCI-E lanes will have sufficient money to drop in a 5960X on principle. Anybody who's adopting X99 for productivity purposes will not skimp on core count and also go 5960X, especially considering they're likely to go at least 32GB RAM and therefore shelling out a lot of money. Those producing on CUDA cards may not even go X99 at all because 1150 Haswell has more than enough power to run the software. Folders and CUDA Miners similarly will want all GPUs running at full tilt so will likely invest in the 5960X to get all the PCI-E lanes.
So really, the only "smart choice" is 5960X or don't go X99 at all.