i7 3930K vs. i7 6700K

piowoc

Member
Nov 4, 2012
55
0
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Hi guys,

can somebody direct me to some website for CPU benchmark comparisons? My rig is almost 4 years old and it's based on i7 3930K. I used it mostly for photo and video editing, no gaming at all. Would upgrading to i7 6700K give me any noticeable speed advantage?

Your reply will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Peter
 

BigDaveX

Senior member
Jun 12, 2014
440
216
116
I sure can: this very site!

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/552?vs=1543

It'd be a sidegrade at best; faster in some situations, but probably slower in most of the situations that'd count to you. Your best bet (short of overclocking your existing CPU) is probably to wait until Broadwell-E shows up and see if there's any affordable 8-core SKUs.
 

Erithan13

Senior member
Oct 25, 2015
218
79
66
Agree with the above, for video work the 6700k would likely be a downgrade, it has higher clockspeed and a newer architecture (more performance per clock) but I doubt that would make up for losing two entire cores. CPU advancements in the past 4 or 5 years have been more of a slow trickle upwards rather than anything revolutionary so there are plenty of 4 year old cpus out there still doing just fine. No need to upgrade if it still serves you well.

If you don't yet have an SSD that would be something to upgrade ASAP.
 

moonbogg

Lifer
Jan 8, 2011
10,635
3,095
136
Is your 3930k running at default speed? If it is, I want you to know you can overclock it easily and land in the 4.3 to 4.6 range or possibly even better. It depends on your cooling. Talk to me about your cooling. TALK TO ME ABOUT IT NOW.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
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Hi guys,

can somebody direct me to some website for CPU benchmark comparisons? My rig is almost 4 years old and it's based on i7 3930K. I used it mostly for photo and video editing, no gaming at all. Would upgrading to i7 6700K give me any noticeable speed advantage?

Your reply will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Peter

Nah. If you want to upgrade, and if you aren't overclocking, maybe pick up a used IVB-E Xeon E5 with moar cores?
 

Giorgosgr

Junior Member
Sep 1, 2014
20
0
0
3930k is a very good Cpu to overclock. Even if your not an Overclocker buy an AIO Watercooling system and do a search how to oc... With a speed of 4.6 - 4.8 you will outperform 6700k In all scenarios.
 
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bystander36

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2013
5,154
132
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Yeah, if you want to consider an upgrade for the tasks you are doing, the i7 5820K/5930K/5960x are what you are looking for. You don't want to move from 6 to 4 cores with the 6700K.

That said, your best move would be to sit tight and enjoy what you have and OC it if you haven't already.
 

bystander36

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2013
5,154
132
106
Err.... better to go to the 6 Core Broadwell which will be at lower price than Skylake one XDDD

Do you have any links to a 6 core Broadwell CPU? I thought Broadwell was all 4 cores or less, with Broadwell-E coming at a later date, which will include 6+ cores. I could be wrong.
 

Dave3000

Golden Member
Jan 10, 2011
1,343
91
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Yup, overclock that 3930K and sit tight for a now.

I advise against overclocking in Piowoc's case. Piowoc is using is PC for video/photo editing, which is work. Overclocking and work don't mix. A 3930k would be at about the same performance level as a 6700k in heavily multithreaded apps, when both are at their factory clock frequencies. Nothing will be gained from going from a 3930k to a 6700k in professional heavily multithreaded apps, there might be even a small performance loss. The only upgraded that would make sense in this in my opinion that exists would be a 5960x and if that's too expensive then just wait.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
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I advise against overclocking in Piowoc's case. Piowoc is using is PC for video/photo editing, which is work. Overclocking and work don't mix. A 3930k would be at about the same performance level as a 6700k in heavily multithreaded apps, when both are at their factory clock frequencies. Nothing will be gained from going from a 3930k to a 6700k in professional heavily multithreaded apps, there might be even a small performance loss. The only upgraded that would make sense in this in my opinion that exists would be a 5960x and if that's too expensive then just wait.

Even HFT shops will use overclocked CPUs to get any sort of edge they can :)

You can overclock a work machine, but you sure as hell should do some extensive validation of its stability. It's extra work if you want to do it right but with something like a 5960X you can get an extra 1.4-1.5GHz over base speed which may very well be worth the "validation" effort.
 

crashtech

Lifer
Jan 4, 2013
10,521
2,111
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If you are patient, you can find used i7-4960X CPUs crossing ebay for $5-600. This is your easiest upgrade since it offers more total throughput than a 6700K and will probably drop into your X79 system, though it would be wise to check the compatibility list and BIOS revision of the motherboard. In fact, the 4960X offers very comparable throughput to stock-clocked X99 systems other than the very expensive 5960X.