Phenom II X3 N870 vs Core 2 Duo E8500
Aggregate performance score
Phenom II X3 N870 outperforms Core 2 Duo E8500 by a significant 29% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2798 | 2624 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | 3x AMD Phenom II |
| Power efficiency | 0.48 | 1.15 |
| Designer | Intel | AMD |
| Architecture codename | Wolfdale (2008−2010) | Champlain (2010−2011) |
| Release date | January 2008 (17 years ago) | 16 December 2010 (14 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870 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) | 3 (Tri-Core) |
| Threads | 2 | 3 |
| Base clock speed | 3.16 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 3.17 GHz | 2.3 GHz |
| Bus rate | 1333 MHz | 3600 MHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB | 384 KB |
| L2 cache | 6 MB (shared) | 1.5 MB |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | no data |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 107 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 410 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | 0.85V-1.3625V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870 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 | no data |
| Socket | LGA775 | S1 (S1g4) |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | 86x MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE(1,2,3,4A),-64, AMD-V |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| FSB parity | - | no data |
Security technologies
Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo E8500 and Phenom II X3 N870. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 | DDR3 |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.78 | 1.01 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 3 |
| Threads | 2 | 3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
Phenom II X3 N870 has a 29.5% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and 85.7% lower power consumption.
The AMD Phenom II X3 N870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 in performance tests.
Note that Core 2 Duo E8500 is a desktop processor while Phenom II X3 N870 is a notebook one.
Other comparisons
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