Pentium 997 vs Pentium B960

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Aggregate performance score

Pentium B960
2011
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.62
+21.6%
Pentium 997
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 17 Watt
0.51

Pentium B960 outperforms Pentium 997 by a significant 22% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking27922882
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel PentiumIntel Pentium
Power efficiency1.682.84
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date2 October 2011 (13 years ago)1 September 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$134$134

Detailed specifications

Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads22
Base clock speed2.2 GHz1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed2.2 GHz1.6 GHz
Bus typeDMI 2.0DMI 2.0
Bus rate4 × 5 GT/s4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier2216
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache2 MB (shared)2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm32 nm
Die size131 mm2131 mm2
Maximum core temperature85 °C100 °C
Number of transistors504 million504 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCPGA988,PGA988FCBGA1023
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt17 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium B960 and Pentium 997. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
FMA++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFi--
Turbo Boost Technology--
Hyper-Threading Technology--
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Demand Based Switching--
FDI++
Fast Memory Access++

Security technologies

Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Anti-Theft--

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 are enumerated here.

VT-d--
VT-x--

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium B960 and Pentium 997. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size16 GB16 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth21.335 GB/s21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel ProcessorsIntel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors
Clear Video HD--
Graphics max frequency1.1 GHz1 GHz
InTru 3D--

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium B960 and Pentium 997 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported22
eDP++
DisplayPort++
HDMI++
SDVO++
CRT++

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium B960 and Pentium 997.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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.

Pentium B960 0.62
+21.6%
Pentium 997 0.51

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.

Pentium B960 986
+21.9%
Pentium 997 809

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Pentium B960 325
+34.9%
Pentium 997 241

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Pentium B960 534
+25.6%
Pentium 997 425

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.62 0.51
Recency 2 October 2011 1 September 2012
Power consumption (TDP) 35 Watt 17 Watt

Pentium B960 has a 21.6% higher aggregate performance score.

Pentium 997, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 10 months, and 105.9% lower power consumption.

The Pentium B960 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium 997 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium B960 and Pentium 997, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Pentium B960
Pentium B960
Intel Pentium 997
Pentium 997

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Pentium B960 or Pentium 997, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.