Pentium 917 vs Core i7-990X

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-990X and Pentium 917 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1237	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.63	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Pentium
Architecture codename	Gulftown (2010−2011)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	24 February 2011 (13 years ago)	no data
Launch price (MSRP)	$1,104	no data
Current price	$162 (0.1x MSRP)	$21

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-990X and Pentium 917 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)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	12	2
Base clock speed	3.46 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.73 GHz	1.8 GHz
Bus support	no data	4 × 5 GT/s
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB
L3 cache	12 MB (shared)	2 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	239 mm2	131 mm2
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1,170 million	504 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	Yes	No

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-990X and Pentium 917 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 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA1366,LGA1366	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	17 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-990X and Pentium 917. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
AES-NI	+	no data
FMA	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
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 i7-990X and Pentium 917 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 i7-990X and Pentium 917 are enumerated here.

VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-990X and Pentium 917. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3-1333
Maximum memory size	24 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	3	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	21.335 GB/s
ECC memory support	-	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-990X and Pentium 917.

PCIe version

2.0

no data

Pros & cons summary

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Physical cores	6	2
Threads	12	2
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	17 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-990X and Pentium 917, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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