Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) vs Athlon II X3 420e
Aggregate performance score
Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) outperforms Athlon II X3 420e by an impressive 63% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2489 | 2106 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.09 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 2.06 | 1.21 |
| Architecture codename | Rana (2009−2011) | Deneb (2009−2011) |
| Release date | 21 September 2010 (14 years ago) | 7 November 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $116 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) 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 | 3 (Tri-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 3 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz |
| L1 cache | 128 KB (per core) | 128 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 512 KB (per core) | 512 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 6 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 169 mm2 | 258 mm2 |
| Number of transistors | 300 million | 758 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) 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 | AM3 | AM3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 45 Watt | 125 Watt |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W). Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W).
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.98 | 1.60 |
| Recency | 21 September 2010 | 7 November 2009 |
| Physical cores | 3 | 4 |
| Threads | 3 | 4 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 45 Watt | 125 Watt |
Athlon II X3 420e has an age advantage of 10 months, and 177.8% lower power consumption.
Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W), on the other hand, has a 63.3% higher aggregate performance score, and 33.3% more physical cores and 33.3% more threads.
The Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W) is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon II X3 420e in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon II X3 420e and Phenom II X4 965 BE (125W), ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
