Athlon X4 970 vs Core 2 Quad Q9650

Primary details

Comparing Core 2 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	2007	1958
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.43	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Yorkfield (2007−2009)	Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	August 2008 (15 years ago)	27 July 2017 (6 years ago)
Current price	$75	$59

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Quad Q9650 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	4 (Quad-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	3 GHz	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3 GHz	4 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB (per die)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	0 KB
Chip lithography	45 nm	28 nm
Die size	2x 107 mm2	246 mm2
Maximum core temperature	71 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	820 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	Yes
VID voltage range	0.85V-1.3625V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Quad Q9650 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	LGA775	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI	-	+
FMA	no data	+
AVX	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FSB parity	-	no data
Status	Discontinued	no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970 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 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

AMD-V	no data	+
VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR1, DDR2, DDR3

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.

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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.

Athlon X4 970 outperforms Core 2 Quad Q9650 by 7% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	1.60	1.71
Chip lithography	45 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Quad Q9650 and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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