Intel Core i7-9750H vs Intel Xeon 6756E Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a striking split between the Intel Core i7-9750H and the Intel Xeon 6756E, with each processor dominating entirely different categories. The Xeon 6756E wins the Cinebench suite outright, taking all six multicore and singlecore tests. In Cinebench R23 multicore, the Xeon scores 9728 against the i7-9750H's 8973, a 7.8% lead. The same 7.8% delta appears in Cinebench R20 multicore (4085 vs 3768) and R15 multicore (980 vs 904). Singlecore results follow a similar pattern: R23 singlecore shows the Xeon at 1373 versus 1266, R20 singlecore at 576 versus 531, and R15 singlecore at 138 versus 127, each with an 8% gap or less.

The Passmark suite reveals the opposite story. The i7-9750H wins 7 of 10 Passmark tests, often by huge margins. The largest singlecore gap in the entire comparison is Passmark single thread, where the i7-9750H scores 2404 and the Xeon 6756E scores 1646, a 46.1% advantage for the mobile chip. Extended instructions favor the i7 by 39.3% (9187 vs 6596), random string sorting by 25.3% (19862 vs 15847), and integer math by 22.8% (37822 vs 30806). Data compression also goes to the i7, 150443 versus 123443, a 21.9% win. Floating point math is closer, with the i7 ahead by just 4% (23343 vs 22451).

The Xeon fights back in three Passmark tests. Data encryption shows a 55.3% advantage for the Xeon (8409 vs 3756), and physics is nearly as lopsided at 54.2% (1463 vs 670). Find prime numbers gives the Xeon a 75.9% lead (133 vs 32), the largest percentage delta in either direction. Passmark multithread also goes to the Xeon, but only by 6.8% (11445 vs 10671). Overall, the Xeon wins 10 head-to-head tests, while the i7-9750H wins 7. Yet the average benchmark scores tell a nuanced tale: the i7-9750H sits at 14886 with a 69th percentile against all CPUs, while the Xeon 6756E averages 14163 at the 68th percentile. The i7's nearest rival is the AMD EPYC 74F3 at 14915, a 0.2% difference, and the Xeon's nearest rival is the Intel Core i5-10400F at 14185, also 0.2% away. These two processors, despite their wildly different architectures, land within 723 points of each other on average.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two chips is enormous. The i7-9750H is a Coffee Lake-HR part built on Intel's 14 nm process, with 6 cores and 12 threads. Its die measures 149 mm². The Xeon 6756E, codenamed Sierra Forest, uses a 5 nm process with 128 cores and 128 threads, no hyper-threading, and a die size of 578 mm². That is 122 more cores and a die nearly four times larger, yet the Xeon's average benchmark score is lower. This suggests the i7's per-core performance is dramatically higher, which the Passmark single thread result confirms.

Clock speeds differ sharply. The i7-9750H has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The Xeon 6756E runs at 1.80 GHz base and 2.60 GHz boost. The i7's boost clock is 1.9 GHz higher, which helps explain its singlecore dominance. The Xeon compensates with sheer core count, but its lower clocks and lack of simultaneous multithreading limit its scaling.

Cache layouts are equally divergent. The i7-9750H has 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3. The Xeon 6756E offers 96 KB of L1 per core, 4 MB of L2 per module, and a massive 96 MB of shared L3. Memory subsystems follow suit: the i7 supports DDR4 on a dual-channel bus with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth and no ECC. The Xeon supports DDR5 on an eight-channel bus with 409.6 GB/s bandwidth and ECC memory. That is nearly ten times the memory bandwidth. PCIe connectivity also differs: the i7 uses Gen 3, while the Xeon provides Gen 5 with 88 lanes (CPU only). Integrated graphics exist only on the i7 (UHD 630); the Xeon has none. The Xeon is a server/workstation part on Socket 4710 with a 225 W TDP, while the i7 is a mobile chip on BGA 1440 at 45 W TDP. The Xeon launched in June 2024 and remains active; the i7 launched in April 2019 and is end-of-life.

Where Each One Wins

The data points to a clear division of labor. The i7-9750H wins in every single-threaded Passmark test, plus integer math, floating point, data compression, extended instructions, and random string sorting. Its 46.1% single-thread lead and 39.3% extended instructions lead suggest workloads that depend on per-core speed or branch-heavy code will favor the mobile chip. Data compression at 21.9% ahead and integer math at 22.8% ahead reinforce this: the i7 handles algorithmic, latency-sensitive tasks with ease. The 4% floating point win is narrow but still a win, indicating the Xeon's many cores cannot overcome its clock disadvantage in scalar or lightly threaded floating point work.

The Xeon 6756E wins in all Cinebench tests, but the margins are modest, between 7.8% and 8%. Its real strengths appear in data encryption (55.3% ahead), physics (54.2% ahead), and prime number finding (75.9% ahead). These are workloads that parallelize across many cores, often with high memory bandwidth demands. The Xeon's 409.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 96 MB of L3 cache likely fuel its encryption and physics results. The 128-core count also explains the prime number result, where the i7's 6 cores are simply outnumbered. Passmark multithread goes to the Xeon by 6.8%, a smaller margin than its core advantage would suggest, hinting that the i7's higher clocks partially mitigate the core deficit.

For real-world use, the i7-9750H suits desktop-replacement laptops, light content creation, and any task where responsiveness per thread matters more than total throughput. The Xeon 6756E targets server racks, virtualization, encryption-heavy backends, and scientific simulations that can saturate 128 cores. Neither chip is a general-purpose winner in the other's domain.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has the higher single-core score?

A: The Intel Core i7-9750H. Its Passmark single thread score is 2404 versus 1646 for the Xeon 6756E, a 46.1% gap. Cinebench R23 singlecore also favors the Xeon slightly (1373 vs 1266), but the Passmark result shows the i7's per-core advantage more starkly.

Q: How do their multicore scores compare?

A: The Xeon 6756E edges out the i7-9750H in every Cinebench multicore test, with 7.8% leads in R15, R20, and R23. Passmark multithread also goes to the Xeon (11445 vs 10671, a 6.8% lead). However, the i7 wins Passmark integer math by 22.8% and floating point by 4%, showing that multicore performance depends heavily on the workload.

Q: What is the biggest performance difference in either direction?

A: The largest margin is in Passmark find prime numbers, where the Xeon scores 133 versus 32 for the i7, a 75.9% advantage. The largest i7 win is Passmark single thread at 46.1% (2404 vs 1646).

Q: Does the Xeon 6756E support ECC memory?

A: Yes. The Xeon 6756E supports DDR5 with ECC enabled. The i7-9750H supports DDR4 without ECC.

Q: Which processor has more memory bandwidth?

A: The Xeon 6756E, with 409.6 GB/s across an eight-channel DDR5 bus. The i7-9750H manages 42.7 GB/s over dual-channel DDR4, which is roughly one-tenth the bandwidth.

Q: Are both processors still in production?

A: No. The i7-9750H is end-of-life, having launched in April 2019. The Xeon 6756E is active, with a June 2024 launch and a launch MSRP of $8428.

Specification Differences

| Field | Intel Core i7-9750H | Intel Xeon 6756E |

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

| Cores | 6 | 128 |

| Threads | 12 | 128 |

| Base Clock | 2.60 GHz | 1.80 GHz |

| Boost Clock | 4.50 GHz | 2.60 GHz |

| TDP | 45 W | 225 W |

| Socket | Intel BGA 1440 | Intel Socket 4710 |

| Architecture | Coffee Lake | Sierra Forest |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Die Size | 149 mm² | 578 mm² |

| L1 Cache | 64 KB (per core) | 96 KB (per core) |

| L2 Cache | 256 KB (per core) | 4 MB (per module) |

| L3 Cache | 12 MB (shared) | 96 MB (shared) |

| Memory Support | DDR4 | DDR5 |

| Memory Bus | Dual-channel | Eight-channel |

| Memory Bandwidth | 42.7 GB/s | 409.6 GB/s |

| ECC Memory | No | Yes |

| PCIe | Gen 3 | Gen 5, 88 Lanes (CPU only) |

| Integrated Graphics | UHD 630 | N/A |

| Market Segment | Mobile | Server/Workstation |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2019-04-22 | 2024-06-02 |

| Part Number | SRF6USRFCP | SRPFX |

The Verdict

The data does not support a single winner; it supports two distinct buyers. The Intel Core i7-9750H is the choice for anyone whose workloads are latency-bound, single-threaded, or dependent on per-core clock speed. Its 46.1% single-thread advantage, 39.3% extended instructions lead, and 22.8% integer math win are decisive. Mobile users, developers running branch-heavy code, or anyone on a 45 W platform will find the i7's 4.50 GHz boost clock far more useful than the Xeon's 2.60 GHz cap. The i7 also wins data compression by 21.9%, making it surprisingly strong for file-handling tasks despite its age.

The Intel Xeon 6756E is the choice for scale-out, parallel, or memory-bandwidth-hungry workloads. Its 75.9% prime number win, 55.3% encryption advantage, and 54.2% physics lead show that its 128 cores and 409.6 GB/s memory bandwidth dominate when the problem can be spread thinly. The Xeon's 96 MB L3 cache and eight-channel DDR5 make it a server part through and through. Its Cinebench wins, while modest at 7.8%, are consistent across every render test.

The average benchmark scores are nearly identical, 14886 for the i7 versus 14163 for the Xeon, a difference of only 4.9%. Both sit at the 68th or 69th percentile of all CPUs. That near-tie hides the fact that these processors are optimized for opposite ends of the performance spectrum. The i7-9750H is a nimble, high-clock mobile chip from 2019. The Xeon 6756E is a 2024 server behemoth with 128 efficiency cores. If the workload is interactive, the i7 wins. If the workload is batch and parallel, the Xeon wins. The recorded data offers no middle ground.