Intel Core i7-3960X vs Intel Core i5-9300HF

Intel Core i7-3960X

The Intel Core i7-3960X is a high-end desktop processor of the Sandy-Bridge-E series with 6 processor cores and 15 MB level 3 cache. It offers no integrated graphics card and the TDP of 130 Watt suites the CPU only for large desktops. The integrated quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory controller supports up to 64 GB RAM.

Thanks to the six cores, the performance in theoretical benchmarks is clearly above the fastest Ivy-Bridge and Haswell quad cores. However, in applications and games that wont use all six cores, these consumer CPUs are usually faster.

The first C1 stepping of the CPU had no support for VT-d virtualization, later edition do however.

Intel Core i5-9300HF

The Intel Core i5-9300H is a fast processor for laptops with four cores based on the Coffee Lake architecture (2019 Refresh, CFL-HR). The processor clocks at between 2.4 and 4.1 GHz (4 with 4 cores) and can execute up to eight threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured in an improved 14nm (14nm++) process. Compared to the predecessor, the Core i5-8300H from 2018, the 9300H is clocked slightly higher (+100 MHz CPU).

Compared to the Core i5-9300H, the integrated graphics card in the 9300HF is deactivated.

The Coffee Lake architecture is similar to Kaby Lake and differs only in the amount of cores (now six cores for the high end versions) and the improved 14nm process (14nm++ according to Intel).

Performance

The Intel Core i5-9300HF should perform similar as the older Core i7-7920HQ (3.1 - 4.1 GHz). The faster Coffee Lake CPUs, like the Core i7-8750H/9750H offers two additional cores and is therefore up to 50% faster in multithreaded benchmarks. Still, the performance of the i5-9300HF should be sufficient for even demanding applications and games. Compared to the Core i5-9300H (see for benchmarks), the performance should be identical.

Power Consumption

Intel specifies the TDP with 45 watts and therefore the i5 is only suited for big laptops with good cooling solutions. Using cTDP-down, the CPU can also be configured to 35 Watt resulting in a reduced performance.