Phenom II X3 N870 vs i7-950
Aggregate performance score
Core i7-950 outperforms Phenom II X3 N870 by an impressive 91% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1886 | 2393 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.14 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | Core i7 (Desktop) | 3x AMD Phenom II |
| Architecture codename | Bloomfield (2008−2010) | Champlain (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 2 June 2009 (15 years ago) | 16 December 2010 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $290 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870 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) | 3 (Tri-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 3 |
| Base clock speed | 3.06 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 3.33 GHz | 2.3 GHz |
| Bus rate | 1333 MHz | 3600 MHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 384 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 1.5 MB |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | no data |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 263 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 68 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 731 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870 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 | no data |
| Socket | FCLGA1366 | S1 (S1g4) |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | 86x MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE(1,2,3,4A),-64, AMD-V |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 1.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | no data |
Security technologies
Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870 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 i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 24 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 3 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.10 | 1.10 |
| Recency | 2 June 2009 | 16 December 2010 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 3 |
| Threads | 8 | 3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 35 Watt |
i7-950 has a 90.9% higher aggregate performance score, and 33.3% more physical cores and 166.7% more threads.
Phenom II X3 N870, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year, and 271.4% lower power consumption.
The Core i7-950 is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X3 N870 in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-950 is a desktop processor while Phenom II X3 N870 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-950 and Phenom II X3 N870, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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