i7-3720QM vs i7-4870HQ

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-4870HQ
2014
4 cores / 8 threads, 47 Watt
3.97
+11.2%
Core i7-3720QM
2012
4 cores / 8 threads, 45 Watt
3.57

Core i7-4870HQ outperforms Core i7-3720QM by a moderate 11% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking14351525
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Core i7
Power efficiency8.007.51
Architecture codenameCrystalwell (2013−2014)Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date1 July 2014 (10 years ago)29 April 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$434$378

Detailed specifications

Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads88
Base clock speed2.5 GHz2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed3.7 GHz3.6 GHz
Bus typeDMI 2.0no data
Bus rate5 GT/s5 GT/s
Multiplier25no data
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography22 nm22 nm
Die size264 mm2160 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)100 °Cno data
Number of transistors1,400 million1,400 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM 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 configuration11
SocketFCBGA1364FCBGA1224,FCPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)47 Watt45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® AVX
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Accessno data+
Demand Based Switchingno data-
FDI++
Fast Memory Accessno data+

Security technologies

Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection++
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth25.6 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200Intel HD Graphics 4000
Max video memory2 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.2 GHz1.25 GHz
InTru 3D++

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDP++
DisplayPort++
HDMI++
VGA+no data
SDVOno data+
CRTno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.42560x1600@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort3840x2160@60Hzno data
Max resolution over VGA1920x1200@60Hzno data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX11.2/12no data
OpenGL4.3no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM.

PCIe version33.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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.

i7-4870HQ 3.97
+11.2%
i7-3720QM 3.57

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.

i7-4870HQ 6305
+11.3%
i7-3720QM 5667

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-4870HQ 1145
+91.5%
i7-3720QM 598

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-4870HQ 3725
+84.8%
i7-3720QM 2016

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i7-4870HQ 5300
+9.9%
i7-3720QM 4821

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.

i7-4870HQ 19079
+1.1%
i7-3720QM 18879

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i7-4870HQ 6622
i7-3720QM 6642
+0.3%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i7-4870HQ 10.56
i7-3720QM 7.85
+34.5%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i7-4870HQ 7
+1%
i7-3720QM 7

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-4870HQ 621
+1.8%
i7-3720QM 610

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-4870HQ 143
+13.5%
i7-3720QM 126

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i7-4870HQ 1.61
+9.5%
i7-3720QM 1.47

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i7-4870HQ 4.2
+27.3%
i7-3720QM 3.3

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i7-4870HQ 7031
+61.1%
i7-3720QM 4365

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i7-4870HQ 40
+6.9%
i7-3720QM 37

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i7-4870HQ 170
+15.8%
i7-3720QM 147

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

i7-4870HQ 12610
i7-3720QM 14452
+14.6%

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

i7-4870HQ 3415
i7-3720QM 3898
+14.2%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.97 3.57
Integrated graphics card 3.07 1.18
Recency 1 July 2014 29 April 2012
Power consumption (TDP) 47 Watt 45 Watt

i7-4870HQ has a 11.2% higher aggregate performance score, 160.2% faster integrated GPU, and an age advantage of 2 years.

i7-3720QM, on the other hand, has 4.4% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-4870HQ is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3720QM in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-4870HQ and Core i7-3720QM, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-4870HQ
Core i7-4870HQ
Intel Core i7-3720QM
Core i7-3720QM

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