Athlon II X2 250 vs Core i7-3820

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1405	2616
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.32	3.61
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge-E (2011−2013)	Regor (2009−2013)
Release date	February 2012 (12 years ago)	June 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$400	$39
Current price	$310 (0.8x MSRP)	$27 (0.7x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Athlon II X2 250 has 56% better value for money than i7-3820.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250 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)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	8	2
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.8 GHz	3 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	256 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	10240 KB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	294 mm2	117 mm2
Maximum core temperature	67 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	67 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1270 million	410 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250 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	FCLGA2011	AM3
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	+	no data
AVX	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	no data
Smart Response	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
Status	Discontinued	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	64.23 GB	no data
Max memory channels	4	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	51.2 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	-	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	40	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.

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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.

Core i7-3820 outperforms Athlon II X2 250 by 431% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	3.72	0.70
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	8	2
Cost	$400	$39
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3820 and Athlon II X2 250, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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