Phenom II X2 N640 vs Phenom II X3 N870
Aggregate performance score
Phenom II X3 N870 outperforms Phenom II X2 N640 by a moderate 17% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2491 | 2600 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | 3x AMD Phenom II | 2x AMD Phenom II |
| Power efficiency | 2.86 | 2.45 |
| Architecture codename | Champlain (2010−2011) | Champlain (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 16 December 2010 (14 years ago) | 1 October 2010 (14 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640 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 | 3 (Tri-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 3 | 2 |
| Boost clock speed | 2.3 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Bus rate | 3600 MHz | 3600 MHz |
| L1 cache | 384 KB | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | 1.5 MB | 2 MB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640 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.
| Socket | S1 (S1g4) | S1 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | 86x MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE(1,2,3,4A),-64, AMD-V | HyperTransport 3.0, SSE4A, AMD64, Enhanced Virus Protection, Vurtualization |
| VirusProtect | - | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Phenom II X3 N870 and Phenom II X2 N640. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
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.
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 | 1.05 | 0.90 |
| Recency | 16 December 2010 | 1 October 2010 |
| Physical cores | 3 | 2 |
| Threads | 3 | 2 |
Phenom II X3 N870 has a 16.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 months, and 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads.
The Phenom II X3 N870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X2 N640 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We've compiled a selection of CPU comparisons, ranging from closely matched processors to other comparisons that may be of interest.
