cause crashes prematurely . You may find that your particular CPU is capable of operating at 4.3GHz continuously , but because your AVX frequency is fixed to this 4.3GHz as well , your system is unstable if posting at all . Having the ability to control this or set a low frequency / multiplier allows you to maintain your high clock speed , while sacrificing performance only in the AVX workloads via the lower frequency .
Seeing as there are few applications that actually take advantage of AVX instructions , ( in particular games of which there are a handful or less ) you could safely set a low frequency and not have any adverse performance impact on your system .
Normally this wouldn ’ t be such a big deal , but this particular family of CPUs , much like the often ignored 5775C and 5675C , are by comparison to Haswell-E and Skylake-E , poor overclockers . Whereas it ’ s not unusual to see 5960X CPUs operating at 4.5GHz and some as high as 4.7GHz for 24 / 7 use . The 6950X and its lesser variations are often limited to the between 4 and 4.2GHz . Under liquid nitrogen , the average 6950X frequency is 5GHZ like the sample we used . This is in stark contrast to the Haswell-E CPUs which regularly reached 5.5GHz and higher . The highest clocking 6950X on record over at HWBOT at present ( barring frequency validations ) is at roughly 5.4GHz , with the vast majority of the good samples at 5.2GHz .
Despite that , in the context of extreme overclocking , the 6950X is still a better CPU purchase than the 5960X . Be it you ’ re looking at XTU competition , 3DMark , wPrime etc . The 6950X is still the CPU that will give you an edge even over a good 5960X sample . If that edge is worth the usually $ 1700 + price tag will be up to you , but it can ’ t be said that INTEL is charging more for less as that ’ s simply untrue .
What of the regular users or “ power users ” who aren ’ t necessarily into competitive overclocking ? Well , you ’ d be tempted to think that a 4.5GHz 5960X is obviously a better CPU than the 6900K for instance , which is unlikely to reach that frequency . You ’ d be mistaken though , as the IPC improvements for the most part negate the clock speed advantage the Haswell-E CPU may have . For instance , you ’ d only need around 4.2GHz on the 6900K to match the 4.5GHz of the 5960X . So even though these CPUs are not great overclockers at all , you ’ d not be better served by the higher clocks of the 5960X at all .
So if you were going to buy into X99 , then the Broadwell-E CPUs such as this one would definitely be the right option , especially between the 5960X and the 6900K which retail for nearly the same amount . For the 6950X , well it isn ’ t a surprise that it costs this much . It ’ s simply untouchable in performance , not counting Xeon CPUs .
Overall , the numbers here speak for themselves and there ’ s no doubt to the superiority of the 6950X over its predecessor in almost every regard . Benchmarks at the default frequencies for each CPU would suggest differently , but let ’ s not forget that the whole point of unlocked multiplier CPUs is the ability to operate them at whatever chosen frequency . So a direct comparison of performance at default frequencies won ’ t necessarily tell you anything you ’ d not suspect just by looking at the default operating and turbo frequencies of the two CPUs ( 5960X and 6950X that is ). Set both to 4GHz or whatever and you ’ ll instantly have a different picture with the 6950X well ahead in every respect .
At the bleeding edge of technology , pricing is never friendly nor should it be . This is what INTEL has presented here with the Core i7 6950X CPU . If you find this a compelling CPU for you , for whatever reason , then you ’ d be wise to look at the ASUS Rampage V 10 Edition motherboard as well . You ’ re fundamentally assembling the best money can buy and as such it is only fitting that you match such a CPU with a fitting motherboard . The combination of those two is near unbeatable and despite all the alternatives that may seem to be out there . For sheer performance figures , it ’ s not possible to beat this combination and just for that alone , they are individually and as a combination worthy of the Editor ’ s choice award .
[ The Overclocker ]
Issue 39 | 2016 The OverClocker 33