Athlon X4 970 vs Core i7-870

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1831	1958
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.95	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Lynnfield (2009−2010)	Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	September 2009 (14 years ago)	27 July 2017 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$305	no data
Current price	$88 (0.3x MSRP)	$59

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	8	4
Base clock speed	2.93 GHz	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	4 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	45 nm	28 nm
Die size	296 mm2	246 mm2
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	774 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	Yes

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970 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	FCLGA1156,LGA1156	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	no data	+
AVX	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data
Status	Discontinued	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size	16 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	-	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	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 i7-870 outperforms Athlon X4 970 by 18% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	2.02	1.71
Threads	8	4
Chip lithography	45 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-870 and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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