AMD Threadripper vs. Intel Core i9 CPUs Clock for Clock

Introduction

Until the release of Intel's High Core Count (HCC) CPUs a few weeks ago, we had no real idea of how Intel's high-end desktop CPUs competed with AMD's high-end desktop CPUs clock for clock. While we had the 10, 8, and 6 core Skylake-X parts, we only had 12 and 16 core Threadripper CPUs (of course we now have an 8-Core Threadripper part).

We now can compare the highest core count Threadripper CPU, the 1950X (16 cores and 32 threads), against Intel's second highest i9 Skylake-X CPU, the 7960X (16 cores and 32 threads). Both CPUs take full advantage of the major technologies their series offer, both CPUs can overclock to 4.0GHz on all cores, both CPUs can overclock memory to 3200MHz, and today we put them head to head in a blowout.

After we ran all of our benchmarks, we used the 1950X as a baseline and compared the percentage of overall performance, gaming performance, productivity performance, power consumption, and finally price.

Specifications

The Threadripper 1950X offers 16C/32T with a total of 40MB cache (32MB L3, 8MB L2, and 1.5MB L1), a 180W TDP, 64 PCI-E lanes, and Quad Channel DDR4 Support. The i9-7960X offers 16C/32T with a total of 39MB of cache (22MB L3, 16MB L2, and 1MB L1), a 165W TDP, 44 PCI-E lanes, and Quad Channel DDR4 Support.

Pricing

While you read this article, you should keep in mind that the current price for the AMD Threadripper 1950X is $999, while the Intel i9-7960X is $1784.