Intel Core i7-5960X vs Intel Core i9-9900T Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data presents an unusual split: the Intel Core i7-5960X wins six of the eight direct comparisons, yet the Intel Core i9-9900T claims the two most lopsided victories. The older Haswell-E part takes every Cinebench test by a narrow but consistent margin. In Cinebench R15 multicore, the i7-5960X scores 1165 against the i9-9900T's 1117, a 4.1% advantage. The single-core R15 result follows the same pattern: 164 versus 157, a 4.3% lead. Cinebench R20 shows the i7-5960X ahead by 4.1% in both multicore (4857 vs 4658) and single-core (685 vs 657). The R23 suite repeats this exactly: 11565 vs 11091 in multicore and 1632 vs 1565 in single-core, both 4.1% gaps.

The Geekbench results invert the picture dramatically. The i9-9900T wins Geekbench multicore with 7298 against 6461, a 13% margin. Its Geekbench single-core score of 1452 versus 1010 represents a 43.8% blowout. This is a striking divergence: the i7-5960X dominates every Cinebench iteration, while the i9-9900T crushes the competition in Geekbench. The data suggests these two processors respond very differently to the workloads each test represents. Cinebench tends to favor the i7-5960X's higher base clock and larger cache, while Geekbench appears to reward the i9-9900T's much higher boost clock and newer architecture.

Looking at the aggregate figures, the i9-9900T posts an average benchmark score of 3499, placing it in the 55th percentile of all CPUs. The i7-5960X averages 3442, sitting at the 54th percentile. The delta between them is small, roughly 1.7%, but the i9-9900T edges ahead in the overall database ranking. The nearest rivals for the i9-9900T include the Intel Xeon E-2176G at 3502 (0.1% ahead) and the Intel Xeon E5-1680 v4 at 3494 (0.2% behind). The i7-5960X's closest competitors are the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5350G at 3441 (exactly even) and the AMD Ryzen 5 4600HS at 3444 (0% delta). Both processors sit in a dense cluster of similarly performing chips, making their head-to-head differences more meaningful than their raw rankings.

Where Each One Wins

The use-case split follows the benchmark split closely. The i7-5960X is the clear winner for Cinebench-style rendering workloads. Its consistent 4.1% advantage across R15, R20, and R23 multicore tests indicates that heavily threaded, sustained rendering tasks favor the older chip. The i7-5960X also holds a slight edge in Cinebench single-core tests, which is surprising given its much lower boost clock of 3.50 GHz against the i9-9900T's 4.40 GHz. The data implies that Cinebench's single-core path does not scale with the i9-9900T's clock advantage, possibly due to architectural differences in how the two chips handle the workload.

The i9-9900T dominates Geekbench, particularly in single-core where its 43.8% lead is the largest margin in the entire comparison. This suggests the Coffee Lake architecture has a substantial per-clock efficiency advantage in Geekbench's test suite. The 13% multicore Geekbench win for the i9-9900T shows that even with both chips running 8 cores and 16 threads, the newer design extracts more performance from each thread in this particular benchmark. For users whose workloads resemble Geekbench's mix of integer, floating-point, and memory operations, the i9-9900T is clearly the stronger choice.

The i7-5960X wins the Cinebench family outright, making it the pick for rendering and content creation tasks that mirror those tests. The i9-9900T wins the Geekbench family, indicating superiority in general-purpose computing, web browsing, and productivity applications. The i7-5960X also offers quad-channel memory support with 68.3 GB/s bandwidth versus the i9-9900T's dual-channel 42.7 GB/s, which may help in memory-bandwidth-sensitive workloads even if the benchmarks do not isolate that factor directly.

Architecture Differences

The two processors come from different architectural eras. The i9-9900T is built on Coffee Lake, specifically the Coffee Lake-R refresh, using a 14 nm process. The i7-5960X uses Haswell-E on a 22 nm node. The die sizes reflect this: the i9-9900T measures 180.3 mm² while the i7-5960X is substantially larger at 356 mm². The i7-5960X contains 2,600 million transistors, a figure not listed for the i9-9900T in the database.

Both chips feature 8 cores and 16 threads, with identical L1 cache at 64 KB per core and L2 at 256 KB per core. The L3 cache differs: the i9-9900T has 16 MB shared, while the i7-5960X has 20 MB shared. Clock speeds show a significant divergence. The i9-9900T runs at 2.10 GHz base with a 4.40 GHz boost, while the i7-5960X runs at 3.00 GHz base with only a 3.50 GHz boost. The i9-9900T's boost clock is 0.90 GHz higher, yet the i7-5960X still wins Cinebench, suggesting that sustained performance under load does not favor the higher boost clock.

Thermal design power differs enormously: the i9-9900T is rated at 35 W TDP, while the i7-5960X draws 140 W. This 4x difference in power envelope explains why the i9-9900T can be cooled by a capable air cooler in compact systems, while the i7-5960X demands a more robust cooling solution. The i9-9900T also includes integrated graphics in the form of UHD Graphics 630, while the i7-5960X has no integrated GPU, requiring a discrete graphics card for any display output.

Platform features diverge as well. The i9-9900T uses Intel Socket 1151 with 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes from the CPU. The i7-5960X uses Intel Socket 2011-3 with 40 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, a much larger allocation for multi-GPU or expansion-heavy builds. Memory support differs: both support DDR4, but the i9-9900T runs dual-channel while the i7-5960X runs quad-channel, giving the latter 68.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 42.7 GB/s. Neither chip supports ECC memory. The i9-9900T has a locked multiplier, while the i7-5960X is unlocked for overclocking. The i9-9900T launched at an MSRP of $423, while no launch MSRP is recorded for the i7-5960X.

Release dates place the i7-5960X in August 2014 and the i9-9900T in April 2019, a gap of roughly five years. Both are marked as end-of-life in production status. The i7-5960X carries part number SR20Q, and the i9-9900T carries SRG1B.

The Verdict

The data does not support a single winner across all workloads. The i7-5960X wins every Cinebench test by 4.1% to 4.3%, making it the better choice for rendering tasks that follow that benchmark's pattern. Its quad-channel memory and 40 PCIe lanes also make it suited for workstation-style builds where memory bandwidth and expansion capacity matter. The i9-9900T wins Geekbench by 13% in multicore and 43.8% in single-core, indicating a major advantage in general-purpose computing. Its 35 W TDP makes it far easier to cool and integrate into power-conscious systems, and its integrated graphics remove the need for a discrete GPU in basic builds.

Users should choose the i7-5960X if their primary workloads are Cinebench-like rendering or if they need quad-channel memory bandwidth and extensive PCIe lanes. Users should choose the i9-9900T for general productivity, single-threaded responsiveness, lower power consumption, and the convenience of integrated graphics. The i9-9900T's higher boost clock and newer architecture make it the more versatile everyday processor, while the i7-5960X remains a specialized rendering workhorse. The overall average benchmark scores put the i9-9900T slightly ahead (3499 vs 3442), but the margin is small enough that workload-specific performance should drive the decision.

FAQ

Q: Which processor wins more benchmark comparisons in the database?

A: The Intel Core i7-5960X wins six of the eight head-to-head tests, taking every Cinebench R15, R20, and R23 benchmark. The Intel Core i9-9900T wins the two Geekbench tests.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two processors?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench single-core, where the Intel Core i9-9900T scores 1452 versus the Intel Core i7-5960X's 1010, a 43.8% advantage for the i9-9900T.

Q: How do the core and thread counts compare?

A: Both processors have 8 cores and 16 threads, with identical 64 KB L1 cache per core and 256 KB L2 cache per core. The i7-5960X has 20 MB shared L3 cache, while the i9-9900T has 16 MB shared L3 cache.

Q: What are the power consumption differences?

A: The Intel Core i9-9900T has a 35 W TDP, while the Intel Core i7-5960X has a 140 W TDP. This makes the i9-9900T significantly easier to cool and more power-efficient.

Q: Does either processor support overclocking?

A: The Intel Core i7-5960X has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking, while the Intel Core i9-9900T has a locked multiplier and does not support overclocking.

Q: What are the memory bandwidth specifications for each chip?

A: The Intel Core i7-5960X supports quad-channel DDR4 with 68.3 GB/s memory bandwidth. The Intel Core i9-9900T supports dual-channel DDR4 with 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Core i9-9900T | Intel Core i7-5960X |

|----------------|---------------------|---------------------|

| Base Clock | 2.10 GHz | 3.00 GHz |

| Boost Clock | 4.40 GHz | 3.50 GHz |

| TDP | 35 W | 140 W |

| Socket | Intel Socket 1151 | Intel Socket 2011-3 |

| Architecture | Coffee Lake | Haswell |

| Codename | Coffee Lake-R | Haswell-E |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 22 nm |

| Transistors | Not listed | 2,600 million |

| Die Size | 180.3 mm² | 356 mm² |

| L3 Cache | 16 MB (shared) | 20 MB (shared) |

| Memory Bus | Dual-channel | Quad-channel |

| Memory Bandwidth | 42.7 GB/s | 68.3 GB/s |

| PCIe Lanes | 16 (CPU only) | 40 (CPU only) |

| Integrated Graphics | UHD Graphics 630 | None |

| Multiplier Unlocked | No | Yes |

| Launch MSRP | $423 | Not listed |

| Release Date | 2019-04-22 | 2014-08-31 |

| Part Number | SRG1B | SR20Q |