Core i7-9750HF vs Core i7-5930K

Both the Core i7-9750HF and Core i7-5930K share an identical 6-core/12-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 4.5 GHz on the Core i7-9750HF versus 3.7 GHz on the Core i7-5930K — a 19.5% clock advantage for the Core i7-9750HF (base: 2.6 GHz vs 3.5 GHz). The Core i7-9750HF uses the Coffee Lake-HR (2019) architecture (14 nm), while the Core i7-5930K uses Haswell-E (2014) (22 nm). In PassMark, the Core i7-9750HF scores 10,393 against the Core i7-5930K's 10,369 — a 0.2% lead for the Core i7-9750HF. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,120 vs 1,000, a 11.3% lead for the Core i7-9750HF that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 5,149 vs 6,000 (15.3% advantage for the Core i7-5930K). L3 cache: 12 MB (total) on the Core i7-9750HF vs 15 MB (total) on the Core i7-5930K.

The Core i7-9750HF uses the BGA1440 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Core i7-5930K uses LGA2011 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-2666 memory speed. The Core i7-9750HF supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 64 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Core i7-9750HF) vs 4 (Core i7-5930K). PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i7-9750HF) vs 40 (Core i7-5930K) — the Core i7-5930K offers 24 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: HM370,QM370,CM246 (Core i7-9750HF) and X99 (Core i7-5930K).

Virtualization support: Yes (Core i7-9750HF) vs VT-x, VT-d (Core i7-5930K). Primary use case: Core i7-5930K targets High End Desktop. Direct competitor: Core i7-5930K rivals Ryzen 5 1600.

The Core i7-9750HF launched at $395 MSRP, while the Core i7-5930K debuted at $583. At current prices ($395 vs $410), the Core i7-9750HF is $15 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i7-9750HF delivers 26.3 pts/$ vs 25.3 pts/$ for the Core i7-5930K — making the Core i7-9750HF the 4% better value option.