Athlon II X3 420e vs Pentium G640

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Aggregate performance score

Pentium G640
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 65 Watt
0.85
Athlon II X3 420e
2010
3 cores / 3 threads, 45 Watt
0.98
+15.3%

Athlon II X3 420e outperforms Pentium G640 by a moderate 15% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking25772488
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.050.09
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Power efficiency1.242.06
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Rana (2009−2011)
Release date3 June 2012 (12 years ago)21 September 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$179$116

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Athlon II X3 420e has 80% better value for money than Pentium G640.

Detailed specifications

Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e 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)3 (Tri-Core)
Threads23
Base clock speed2.8 GHz2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed2.8 GHz2.6 GHz
Bus rate5 GT/sno data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)128 KB (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)512 KB (per core)
L3 cache3 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography32 nm45 nm
Die size131 mm2169 mm2
Maximum core temperature69 °Cno data
Number of transistors504 million300 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 configuration11
SocketFCLGA1155AM3
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2no data
AES-NI+-
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology-no data
Hyper-Threading Technology-no data
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access+no data
FDI+no data
Fast Memory Access+no data

Security technologies

Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth17 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processorsno data
Graphics max frequency1.1 GHzno data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported2no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e.

PCIe version2.02.0

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


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 G640 0.85
Athlon II X3 420e 0.98
+15.3%

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 G640 1349
Athlon II X3 420e 1557
+15.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.85 0.98
Recency 3 June 2012 21 September 2010
Physical cores 2 3
Threads 2 3
Chip lithography 32 nm 45 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 45 Watt

Pentium G640 has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Athlon II X3 420e, on the other hand, has a 15.3% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and 44.4% lower power consumption.

The Athlon II X3 420e is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium G640 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium G640 and Athlon II X3 420e, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Pentium G640
Pentium G640
AMD Athlon II X3 420e
Athlon II X3 420e

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Pentium G640 or Athlon II X3 420e, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.