Phenom II X3 P840 vs i7-2960XM
Aggregate performance score
Core i7-2960XM outperforms Phenom II X3 P840 by a whopping 265% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1637 | 2582 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i7 | 3x AMD Phenom II |
| Power efficiency | 5.14 | 3.10 |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Champlain (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 4 September 2011 (13 years ago) | 4 October 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,096 | no data |
Detailed specifications
Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 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) | 3 (Tri-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 3 |
| Base clock speed | 2.7 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 3.7 GHz | 1.9 GHz |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | 3600 MHz |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 384 KB |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 1.5 MB |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | no data |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 216 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 1,160 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 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 | FCPGA988 | S1 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 25 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® AVX | Virtualization, AMD64, Advanced Virus Protection, SSE(1,2,3,4a) |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| VirusProtect | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| My WiFi | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| FDI | + | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
| Anti-Theft | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | + |
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | no data |
| Quick Sync Video | + | - |
| Clear Video HD | + | no data |
| Graphics max frequency | 1.3 GHz | no data |
| InTru 3D | + | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
| eDP | + | no data |
| DisplayPort | + | - |
| HDMI | + | - |
| SDVO | + | no data |
| CRT | + | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | no data |
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.
Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.99 | 0.82 |
| Recency | 4 September 2011 | 4 October 2010 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 3 |
| Threads | 8 | 3 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 55 Watt | 25 Watt |
i7-2960XM has a 264.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 months, 33.3% more physical cores and 166.7% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
Phenom II X3 P840, on the other hand, has 120% lower power consumption.
The Core i7-2960XM is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X3 P840 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-2960XM and Phenom II X3 P840, 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.
