AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX vs Intel Core i9-7960X

Processor comparisons 12-01-2022

   You may have difficulties with the choice of a processor, you will solve them by reading the comprehensive tests AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX vs Intel Core i9-7960X and decide which is better for games or simple use for programming, streaming, video editing, rendering, machine learning. Here you can find all information from real streaming and video editing tests or several benchmarks. A thorough analysis of all the specifications, to make it easier to understand, is presented in the form of the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of parallel examination in special testing software such as PCMark 10, 7zip, MATLAB, Dolphin Emulator, Furmark, PassMark, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, WPrime, Gears 5, Blender, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), DaVinci Resolve Studio, Handbrake, Blender, Prime95, GeekBench 6, 5.2, RealBench, AIDA64, 3DMark, UserBenchmark, VeraCrypt, SuperPi.
   Gaming performance of CPUs in:

Death Stranding
Halo Infinite
Valheim
Red Dead Redemption 2
DOOM: Eternal
Rainbow Six Siege
Apex Legends
Valorant
Overwatch
Watch Dogs Legion
Fallout 76
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone
Cyberpunk 2077
Grand Theft Auto V
Last Man Standing
Fortnite
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Borderlands 3
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

After reading the results of all benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which CPU is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i9-7960X or AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Ryzen 9 6980HX

58%

Core i9-7960X

58%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 9 6980HX

55%

Core i9-7960X

60%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because the cost of this processor reaches several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a little game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the summary table below.
List of other games in which CPU comparisons were performed: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, NBA 2K20, Metro Exodus, League of Legends (LOL), PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), DOTA 2A, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Monster Hunter World, Battlefield V, Half-Life: Alyx, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Hitman 3, Ghostrunner, Control, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Horizon Zero Dawn, Forza Horizon 4.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	97.1	106.9
Valorant	110.3	121.4
Cyberpunk 2077	61.8	68.0
Apex Legends	103.7	114.2
Call of Duty Warzone	82.8	91.1
Overwatch	89.4	98.4
Red Dead Redemption 2	76.1	83.8
DOOM Eternal	55.2	60.7
Warzone	86.1	94.7
Assassin's Creed	92.7	102.0
Valheim	91.6	100.8

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The tested computers not only did they have different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: FullHD, 2K or 4K. So the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. To be sure exactly how much performance the processor will be in games, if you compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Ryzen 9 6980HX

119%

Core i9-7960X

22%

To make a finishing choice on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. The newer the processor generation, the better its performance in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 9 6980HX is more energy efficient than the Core i9-7960X as it consumes less power: 45W vs. 165W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. And TDP should be taken into account when choosing a processor cooling system. You need to buy a cooler that has the TDP data specified in the specification was greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you want to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for programming, video rendering or video editing, streaming, machine learning, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the processor uses all threads and cores that it has to the maximum to achieve maximum efficiency. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to find out whether the software that you are going to use on your computer can work in multi-threaded mode. Since there are still many programs that use only one core to run, and all the advantages of multi-core mode are unused.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX	Intel Core i9-7960X
Cinbench 15 Single-core	263	184
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	2492	3161
Cinbench 20 Single-core	605	611
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	5453	5496
Cinbench 23 Single-core	972	1103
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	13866	22189

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX	Intel Core i9-7960X
Single-Core	3318	2605
Multi-Core	27686	27039

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX	Intel Core i9-7960X
Single-Core	1617	1113
Multi-Core	8927	18501

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most helpful will be the release date of the processor and the possibility of overclocking it. The later the processor is released, the longer it will last in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same benefits from the presence of overclocking. When the processor can be overclocked, thereby increasing its performance, then it will continue to maintain maximum FPS in new games. Accordingly, you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The savings are obvious!

	AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX	Intel Core i9-7960X
Announcement date	January 09, 2022	October 01, 2017
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	FP7	FCLGA2066
Core name	Rembrandt	Skylake
Architecture	Zen 3+	x86
Generation	6	7
Turbo Frequency	5 MHz	4.2 MHz
Frequency	3.3 MHz	2.8 MHz
Cores	8	16
Threads	16	32
Bus rate		8 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	6 nm
Transistors count	10200 millions	7800 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	45 W	165 W
Memory type	DDR5	DDR4-2666
Max. Memory		128 Gb
Memory Frequency	3200
Memory bandwidth		85 GB/s
L1 cache	512KB
L2 cache	4MB
L3 cache	16MB	22 MB
Overclocking	Yes	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	FP7:100-000000750 FP7r2:100-000000751

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 9 6980HX is 15% better than Core i9-7960X in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Core i9-7960X has 8 more core than Ryzen 9 6980HX. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX is better: 13
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i9-7960X is better: 25
However, it should be realized that all the data that you have looked at here do not mean that you should be guided entirely by them and trust a simple quantitative comparison. Be sure to watch the video tests and read the reviews of of people who bought AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX and Intel Core i9-7960X before making a choice which processor to buy for gaming and which not.

AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• AMD Ryzen 9 6980HX specs and review.

• Intel Core i9-7960X specs and review.