Athlon 650 vs i7-4960X

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1059	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.48	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Core i7 (Desktop)	no data
Power efficiency	4.60	no data
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge-E (2013)	Thunderbird (1999−2000)
Release date	3 September 2013 (11 years ago)	9 August 1999 (25 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$999	$849

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	1 (Single-Core)
Threads	12	1
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	4 GHz	0.65 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256K (per core)	512 KB
L3 cache	15 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	180 nm
Die size	257 mm2	184 mm2
Maximum core temperature	67 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	70 °C
Number of transistors	1,860 million	22 million
64 bit support	+	-
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650 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	A
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	48 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

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

Security technologies

Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650 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 i7-4960X and Athlon 650. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR1
Maximum memory size	64 GB	no data
Max memory channels	4	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	59.7 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

N/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650.

PCIe version	3.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	40	no data

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	3 September 2013	9 August 1999
Physical cores	6	1
Threads	12	1
Chip lithography	22 nm	180 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	48 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-4960X and Athlon 650, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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