Core i7-6970HQ: specs and benchmarks

Summary

Intel started Core i7-6970HQ sales 24 January 2016 at a recommended price of $623. This is a Skylake architecture notebook processor primarily aimed at office systems. It has 4 cores and 8 threads, and is based on 14 nm manufacturing technology, with a maximum frequency of 3700 MHz and a locked multiplier.

Compatibility-wise, this is FCBGA1440 processor with a TDP of 45 Watt. It supports DDR3, DDR4 memory.

Primary details

Core i7-6970HQ processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and pricing.

Place in performance ranking	1542
Place by popularity	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i7
Architecture codename	Skylake (2015−2016)
Release date	24 January 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$623	of 305 (Core i7-870)
Current price	$54 (0.1x MSRP)	of 15701 (Xeon Platinum 8276L)

Detailed specifications

Basic microprocessor parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters can generally indicate CPU performance, but to be more precise you have to review its test results.

Physical cores	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	8
Base clock speed	2.8 GHz	of 4.7 (Ryzen 9 7900X)
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	of 6.2 (Core i9-14900KS)
L1 cache	256 KB	of 7475.2 (Apple M2 Pro 10-Core)
L2 cache	1 MB	of 96 (Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX)
L3 cache	8 MB	of 768 (EPYC 7773X)
Chip lithography	14 nm	of 3 (Apple M3 Max 16-Core)
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	of 110 (Core Ultra 9 185H)
64 bit support	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-
Unlocked multiplier	No

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6970HQ compatibility with other computer components and devices: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	of 8 (Xeon Platinum 8454H)
Socket	FCBGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	of 400 (Xeon Platinum 9282)

Technologies and extensions

Technological capabilities and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6970HQ. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+
AVX	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+
eDRAM	128 MB
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+
TSX	-
Idle States	+
Thermal Monitoring	+
SIPP	-
Smart Response	+
Status	Discontinued

Security technologies

Processor technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+
EDB	+
Secure Key	+
MPX	+
SGX	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	+

Virtualization technologies

Supported virtual machine optimization technologies. Some are specific to Intel only, some to AMD.

AMD-V	+
VT-d	+
VT-x	+
EPT	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel number of RAM supported by Core i7-6970HQ's memory controller. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequency may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3, DDR4
Maximum memory size	64 GB	of 786 (Xeon E5-2670 v3)
Max memory channels	2	of 12 (Xeon Platinum 9221)
Maximum memory bandwidth	34.1 GB/s	of 460.8 (EPYC 9654)
ECC memory support	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of a GPU integrated into Core i7-6970HQ.

Integrated graphics card	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580
Max video memory	64 GB
Quick Sync Video	+
Clear Video HD	+
Graphics max frequency	1.05 GHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6970HQ's integrated GPU.

Number of displays supported	3
eDP	+
DisplayPort	+
HDMI	+
DVI	+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6970HQ's integrated GPU, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096x2304@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP	4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	4096x2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6970HQ's integrated GPU, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12
OpenGL	4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection types of supported peripherals.

PCIe version	3.0	of 5 (Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX)
PCI Express lanes	16	of 128 (EPYC 9654)

Benchmark performance

Single-core and multi-core benchmark results of Core i7-6970HQ. Overall benchmark performance is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

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Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Closest competitors

Core i7-6970HQ's performance relative to its closest rivals among notebook CPUs.

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