Core i7-3960X and Core i7-2600K SLI, Triple SLI Performance Analysis
Category : 2012
Published by Marc Büchel on 09.01.12
With every new CPU generation it is interesting to see how performance scales with SLI and triple SLI configurations. One can for example see what influence the CPU has on gaming performance. Furhtermore overclockers as well as gamers can see how much of an improvement the new architecture is. In this case we're taking a closer look at gaming performance of Intels latest Sandy Bridge E processors and compare it to Intels performance desktop processors codnamed Sandy Bridge.





Specifications

  i7-3960X i7-2600K
Codename Sandy Bridge E Sandy Bridge
Socket LGA 2011 LGA 1155
Manufacturing 32 nm 32 nm
Transistors 2.27 Billion 995 Million
Die-size 435 mm2 265 mm2
Clock 3.30 GHz (Turbo 3.9 GHz) 3.40 GHz (Turbo 3.8 GHz)
Cores / Threads 6C / 12T 4C / 8T
Turbo Yes (2.0) Yes (2.0)
Bus Speed 100 MHz 100 MHz
Memory DDR3 DDR3
Memory controller Quad Channel Dual Channel
QPI 6.4 GT/s --
L1 Execution Cache 32 KByte 32 KByte
L1 Data Cache 32 KByte 32 KByte
L2 Cache 256 KByte 256 KByte
L3 Cache 15 MB shared 8 MB shared
TDP 130 Watt 95 Watt
C1E technology Yes Yes
Enhanced Intel Speed Step Yes Yes
Virtualisation Vanderpool Vanderpool
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
SSE4.2, AVX, AES EM64T		 MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
SSE4.2, AVX, AES EM64T



Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

Test setup

Motherboard ASUS Rampage IV Formula
Processors
  • Intel Core i7-3960X @ 3.30 GHz fixed multiplyer
  • Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.40 GHz fixed multiplyer
    		•
    Memory Kingston HyperX H2O @ 1'600 MHz CL 9-9-9-24
    Grapics Cards
  • 1 x ASUS ENGTX 580
  • 2 x ASUS ENGTX 580
  • 3 x ASUS ENGTX 580
    		•
    Storage Corsair Force 3 120 Gigabyte
    Power Supply Enermax Max Revo 1350 Watt


    Software




    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

    3DMark 11 - 3DMark Vantage

      3DMark 11 Total 3DMark 11 - Graphics 3DMark 11 - Physics
    Core i7-3960X 6'833 6'340 11'381
    Core i7-2600K 6'493 6'207 8'485
    % difference 5.24 % 2.14 % 24.13 %
           
    Core i7-3960X SLI 11'602 12'101 11'378
    Core i7-2600K SLI 10'904 11'948 8'573
    % difference 6.40 % 1.28 % 32.72 %
           
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 15'117 18'023 11'255
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 13'766 18'095 8'575
    % difference 9.81 % - 0.40 % 31.25 %


      3DMark Vantage Total 3DMark Vantage - Graphics 3DMark Vantage - Physics
    Core i7-3960X 27'096 25'607 32'821
    Core i7-2600K 24'875 25'368 23'504
    % difference 8.93 % 0.94 % 39.64 %
           
    Core i7-3960X SLI 37'676 39'535 33'018
    Core i7-2600K SLI 33'856 39'377 23'509
    % difference 11.28 % 0.40 % 40.45 %
           
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 43'093 48'147 32'774
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 37'303 46'607 23'330
    % difference 15.52 % 3.30 % 40.48 %



    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

    Unigine Heaven - Furmark - Stone Giant

      Unigine Heaven - Points Unigine Heaven - fps
    Core i7-3960X 867 34.4
    Core i7-2600K 863 34.2
    % difference 0.46 % - 0.58 %
         
    Core i7-3960X SLI 1'631 64.8
    Core i7-2600K SLI 1'650 65.5
    % difference - 1.51 % - 1.07 %
         
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 2'344 93.1
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 2'292 91.0
    % difference 2.27 % 2.31 %


      Furmark - Points Furmark - fps
    Core i7-3960X 1'051 17
    Core i7-2600K 1'049 17
    % difference 0.19 % 0.00 %
         
    Core i7-3960X SLI 2'085 34
    Core i7-2600K SLI 2'070 34
    % difference 0.72 % 0.00 %
         
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 3'075 51
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 3'044 50
    % difference 1.02 % 2.00 %


      Stone Giant - fps
    Core i7-3960X 87
    Core i7-2600K 87
    % difference 0.00 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 172
    Core i7-2600K SLI 168
    % difference 2.38 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 303
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 299
    % difference 1.34 %



    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

    Crysis - Resident Evil 5

      Crysis - fps
    Core i7-3960X 38.65
    Core i7-2600K 38.49
    % difference 0.42 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 64.66
    Core i7-2600K SLI 64.08
    % difference 0.91 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 66.76
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 66.66
    % difference 0.15 %


      Resident Evil 5 - fps
    Core i7-3960X 125.80
    Core i7-2600K 125.60
    % difference 0.16 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 147.90
    Core i7-2600K SLI 146.60
    % difference 0.89 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 153.60
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 146.60
    % difference 4.77 %



    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

    Call of Juarez - Far Cry 2

      Call of Juarez - fps
    Core i7-3960X 53.10
    Core i7-2600K 53.00
    % difference 0.19 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 103.20
    Core i7-2600K SLI 102.60
    % difference 0.58 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 151.80
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 151.00
    % difference 0.53 %


      Far Cry 2 - fps
    Core i7-3960X 107.62
    Core i7-2600K 106.53
    % difference 1.02 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 151.05
    Core i7-2600K SLI 150.48
    % difference 0.38 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 163.72
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 157.08
    % difference 4.23 %



    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion
    [pagebreak]

    Discuss this article in the forums.

    Street Fighter 4 - World in Conflict

      Street Fighter 4 - fps
    Core i7-3960X 224.03
    Core i7-2600K 220.94
    % difference 1.40 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 285.91
    Core i7-2600K SLI 269.69
    % difference 6.01 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 276.95
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 254.25
    % difference 8.93 %


      World in Conflict - fps
    Core i7-3960X 86.00
    Core i7-2600K 85.00
    % difference 1.18 %
       
    Core i7-3960X SLI 112.00
    Core i7-2600K SLI 110.00
    % difference 1.82 %
       
    Core i7-3960X Triple SLI 109.00
    Core i7-2600K Triple SLI 109.00
    % difference 0.00 %



    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums. [pagebreak]

    Conclusion

    In general it is particularly noticeable that on average there is almost no difference at all between the two CPUs tested. Especially when we look at the single GPU as well as the SLI results we see as near as makes no difference. The only configuration where we saw a scaling factor which can be explained by CPU influence, was when we ran the tests with triple SLI. In this case the Core i7-3960X is up to 15 percent ahead of the Core i7-2600K. In the CPU tests of 3DMark Vantage and 3DMark 11 one can see a very clear performance difference. This difference can be explained by the simple fact, that the two more cores and four more threads as well as the additional seven megabyte of L3-Cache compared to the Core i7-2600K show their muscles.

    What is also interesting to see is that todays games don't scale with triple SLI configurations. If you plug-in a second GTX 580 you get a nice performance boost, which in Furmark equals almost 100 percent. Adding a third GPU only helps to increase scores in theoretical benchmarks, which means that three-way SLI is only for overclockers who want to get the highest numbers


    Page 1 - Introduction / Specs Page 5 - Crysis / Resident Evil 5
    Page 2 - Test setup Page 6 - Call of Juarez / Far Cry 2
    Page 3 - 3DMark 11 / 3DMark Vantage Page 7 - Street Fighter 4 / World in Conflict
    Page 4 - Unigine Heaven / Stone Giant Page 8 - Conclusion


    Discuss this article in the forums.