Core i7-3720QM vs Core i7-4940MX

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-4940MX
2014
4 cores / 8 threads, 57 Watt
4.55
+24%

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by a significant 24% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-4940MX and Core i7-3720QM processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking12421424
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Core i7
Architecture codenameHaswell (2013−2015)Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date20 January 2014 (10 years ago)29 April 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,096$378
Current price$1087 (1x MSRP)$454 (1.2x MSRP)

Detailed specifications

Core i7-4940MX 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 speed3.1 GHz2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz3.6 GHz
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 size177 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--
Unlocked multiplierYesNo

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-4940MX 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
SocketFCPGA946FCBGA1224,FCPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)57 Watt45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-4940MX 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+no data
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Accessno data+
Demand Based Switchingno data-
FDI++
Fast Memory Accessno data+
StatusDiscontinuedDiscontinued

Security technologies

Core i7-4940MX and Core i7-3720QM technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection++
Anti-Theft++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-4940MX 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 i7-4940MX 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
ECC memory support--

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 4600Intel HD Graphics 4000
Max video memory1.7 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.35 GHz1.25 GHz
InTru 3D++

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-4940MX and Core i7-3720QM integrated GPUs.

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

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-4940MX 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.

i7-4940MX 4.55
+24%
i7-3720QM 3.67

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 24% based on our aggregate benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

i7-4940MX 7044
+23.9%
i7-3720QM 5684

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 24% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i7-4940MX 1260
+109%
i7-3720QM 603

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 109% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i7-4940MX 4061
+99.1%
i7-3720QM 2040

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 99% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 20%

i7-4940MX 5853
+21.4%
i7-3720QM 4821

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 21% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i7-4940MX 21022
+11.4%
i7-3720QM 18879

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 11% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i7-4940MX 7678
+15.6%
i7-3720QM 6642

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 16% in 3DMark06 CPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 18%

i7-4940MX 7
+12.1%
i7-3720QM 7.85

Core i7-3720QM outperforms Core i7-4940MX by 12% in wPrime 32.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

i7-4940MX 8
+13.5%
i7-3720QM 7

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 14% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core.

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i7-4940MX 708
+16.1%
i7-3720QM 610

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 16% in Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i7-4940MX 157
+24.6%
i7-3720QM 126

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 25% in Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

i7-4940MX 1.77
+20.4%
i7-3720QM 1.47

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 20% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-4940MX 4.1
+24.2%
i7-3720QM 3.3

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 24% in TrueCrypt AES.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-4940MX 43
+16%
i7-3720QM 37

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 16% in x264 encoding pass 2.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i7-4940MX 167
+14.1%
i7-3720QM 147

Core i7-4940MX outperforms Core i7-3720QM by 14% in x264 encoding pass 1.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 4.55 3.67
Integrated graphics card 1.84 1.18
Recency 20 January 2014 29 April 2012
Cost $1096 $378
Power consumption (TDP) 57 Watt 45 Watt

The Core i7-4940MX is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3720QM in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-4940MX and Core i7-3720QM, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-4940MX
Core i7-4940MX
Intel Core i7-3720QM
Core i7-3720QM

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