Athlon II X4 635 vs Core i7-970

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1307	2105
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.68	2.86
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Gulftown (2010−2011)	Propus (2009−2011)
Release date	19 July 2010 (13 years ago)	25 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$662	$70
Current price	$132 (0.2x MSRP)	$29 (0.4x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Athlon II X4 635 has 70% better value for money than i7-970.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	12	4
Base clock speed	3.2 GHz	2.9 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.46 GHz	2.9 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	12 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	239 mm2	169 mm2
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1,170 million	300 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635 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	FCLGA1366	AM3
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
AES-NI	+	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 i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635 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 i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635 are enumerated here.

VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635. 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
ECC memory support	-	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635.

PCIe version

2.0

2.0

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 i7-970 outperforms Athlon II X4 635 by 194% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	4.24	1.44
Recency	19 July 2010	25 January 2010
Physical cores	6	4
Threads	12	4
Cost	$662	$70
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	95 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-970 and Athlon II X4 635, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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