Athlon Gold 7220U vs i7-6970HQ

Place in the ranking	1654	1639
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i7	Mendocino (Zen 2, Ryzen 7020)
Power efficiency	6.14	18.80
Architecture codename	Skylake (2015−2016)	Mendocino (Zen 2) (2022−2023)
Release date	2 January 2016 (8 years ago)	20 September 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$623	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U 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	4
Base clock speed	2.8 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	3.7 GHz
Bus type	DMI 3.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 8 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	28	no data
L1 cache	256 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	1 MB	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB	4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	6 nm
Die size	no data	100 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U 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 (Uniprocessor)	1
Socket	FCBGA1440	FP6
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	XFR, FMA3, SSE 4.2, AVX2, SMT
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
eDRAM	128 MB	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Smart Response	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
MPX	+	-
SGX	Yes with Intel® ME	no data
OS Guard	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U 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 i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3, DDR4	DDR5 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size	64 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	34.134 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580	AMD Radeon 610M
Max video memory	64 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.05 GHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
DVI	+	no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	+	no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096x2304@24Hz	no data
Max resolution over eDP	4096x2304@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	4096x2304@60Hz	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	no data
OpenGL	4.5	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	4

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.

i7-6970HQ 2.92

Athlon Gold 7220U 2.98
+2.1%

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.

i7-6970HQ 4632

Athlon Gold 7220U 4740
+2.3%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	2.92	2.98
Integrated graphics card	4.77	2.85
Recency	2 January 2016	20 September 2022
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	8	4
Chip lithography	14 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	15 Watt

i7-6970HQ has 67.4% faster integrated GPU, and 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.

Athlon Gold 7220U, on the other hand, has a 2.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 133.3% more advanced lithography process, and 200% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6970HQ and Athlon Gold 7220U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.