Athlon X4 970 vs Athlon 64 X2 4600+

Place in the ranking	2939	2072
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	2x Athlon 64 (Desktop)	no data
Power efficiency	0.65	2.40
Architecture codename	Windsor (2006−2007)	Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	no data (2024 years ago)	27 July 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$350	no data

Detailed specifications

Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) 4600+ and Athlon X4 970 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	2 (Dual-core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	2	4
Base clock speed	no data	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.4 GHz	4 GHz
Bus rate	1000 MHz	no data
L1 cache	256K	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	0 KB
Chip lithography	90 nm	28 nm
Die size	220 mm²	246 mm²
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	154 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) 4600+ and Athlon X4 970 compatibility with other computer components: 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	1
Socket	939	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) 4600+ and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) 4600+ and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) 4600+ and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

no data

DDR4 Dual-channel

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

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.

Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 0.45

Athlon X4 970 1.66
+269%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 720

Athlon X4 970 2644
+267%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.45	1.66
Physical cores	2	4
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	90 nm	28 nm

Athlon X4 970 has a 268.9% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 221.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Athlon X4 970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon 64 X2 4600+ in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.