Intel Core i7-5930K

The Core i7 5930K is part of the latest enthusiast-level of Intel's CPU family, Haswell-E. It is a six-core / 12 thread components featuring 15MB of L3 cache, 40 PCI Express lanes and runs at a base clock of 3.5GHz (boosting up to 3.7GHz). All of these chips are unlocked.
6
Cores
12
Threads
3.5 GHz
Base Clock
3.7 GHz
Boost Clock
Socket LGA 2011-3
Socket
140 W
TDP
No iGPU
Graphics
$169
Price
Release date:Sep 1, 2014Price at Launch:$583
Cores:6Threads:12
Base Clock:3.5 GHzBoost Clock:3.7 GHz
Type:DesktopMultithreading:Yes
L2 Cache:6 MBL3 Cache:15 MB
Box Cooler:NoTDP:140 W
Socket:Socket LGA 2011-3Memory Support:DDR3‑1866 or DDR4‑2133
Codename:Haswell‑EProcess Size:22 nm
Integrated Graphics:NoNPU:No
PCIe Support:PCIe 3.0, 40 Lanes

Price History

Intel Core i7-5930K pricing

Price Date
Current $169 Dec 15, 2025
Highest* $549 May 14, 2025
Lowest* $169 Oct 23, 2025
Average $283
* Prices are based on listings from Newegg and other major retailers over the past 12+ months.
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Reviews and Ratings

85

Average Score

Based on 6 reviews

Reviewers Liked

  • Great performance

Reviewers Didn't Like

  • Expensive
92

Intel released the Haswell-E line a few months ago, and it has been quite the talk in terms of the move to the newer and...

By techPowerUp! on
85

The most promising member of the three CPUs launched today is the i7-5820K, as now the lowest end CPU for the extreme Intel platform has more cores than the highest member of the mainstream platform, the i7-4790K.

By AnandTech on
84

The leap from £460 to £760 when this article was published from the Core i7-5930K to the Core i7-5960X is a big one, and we'd much rather put the difference towards an awesome X99 motherboard or additional GPU or both. However, if you're a heavy renderer, or using other programs that regularly make upwards of 90 per cent use of 16 threads, then this is one seriously fast CPU that's quite simply crazy fast once overclocked.

By BitTech on
80

This time around, Intel’s stack is organized differently. Stepping down to the -5930K means losing two cores right off the bat. There is no intermediate eight-core option. So, if the rest of the Haswell-E line-up consists of six-core CPUs, why not drop another notch to the Core i7-5820K? Some enthusiasts will thumb their noses at Intel for cutting 12 lanes of third-gen PCI Express from its 40-lane controller, but as differentiators go, that one’s pretty tame.

By TomsHardware on
80

The 5930K will be the tough one to sell, at 583 USD it is mereley a notch faster to the 5820K (and that one has an unlocked multiplier so you easily tweak that out). This biggest difference would be 40 PCIe lanes and we somehow doubt that warrants a 194 USD price difference.

By Guru of 3D on

DefaultFirst of all we're going to have a closer look at performance differences with standard clock speeds From our overall performance rating we see that the Core i75960X is on average 1609% quicker than the Core i75930K If you keep in mind, that the...

By Ocaholic on

That the fastest processors are currently made by Intel is not really a secret, but what is the best choice when you want to spend up to £ 50, £100 or £150? To answer that question we conducted a megatest of 57 current AMD and Intel CPUs. From two...

By uk.hardware.info on

When Intel released their new Haswell-E CPUs, we decided to rework our CPU gaming performance articles. Meanwhile we're testing different resolutions and there are FullHD, 1440p as well as UHD on our list. This way you get a more detailed understanding...

By Ocaholic on

In this article we're going to investigate gaming performance differences regarding Intel's recent HEDT processors. Therefore we're going to test the Intel Core i7-5820K, the i7-5930K as well as the 5960X with our set of recent games. In the end we'll be...

By Ocaholic on

When Intel released their new Haswell-E CPUs, we decided to rework our CPU gaming performance articles. Meanwhile we're testing different resolutions and there are FullHD, 1440p as well as UHD on our list. This way you get a more detailed understanding...

By Ocaholic on

When Intel released their new Haswell-E CPUs, we decided to rework our CPU gaming performance articles. Meanwhile we're testing different resolutions and there are FullHD, 1440p as well as UHD on our list. This way you get a more detailed understanding...

By Ocaholic on

As we noted at the start of this review, one of the other CPUs in the same family as todays i7-5930K is the fastest consumer CPU around so it should come as no surprise that this product is very strong. What do we lose in choosing this model over that?...

By HardwareHeaven on

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