A8-3870K vs Phenom II X4 P960
Aggregate performance score
A8-3870K outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by an impressive 50% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2445 | 2133 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | 4x AMD Phenom II | no data |
| Architecture codename | Champlain (2010−2011) | Llano (2011−2012) |
| Release date | 19 October 2010 (13 years ago) | 20 December 2011 (12 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1.8 GHz | 3 GHz |
| Bus rate | 3600 MHz | no data |
| L1 cache | 512 KB | 128 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 2 MB | 1 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | no data | 228 mm2 |
| Number of transistors | no data | 1,178 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K 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 | no data | 1 |
| Socket | S1 (S1g4) | FM1 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 100 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | MMX, 3DNow, SSE (1,2,3,4A), AMD64, Enhanced Virus Protection, Virtualization, HyperTransport 3.0 | no data |
| VirusProtect | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | AMD Radeon HD 6550D |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.01 | 1.51 |
| Recency | 19 October 2010 | 20 December 2011 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 25 Watt | 100 Watt |
Phenom II X4 P960 has 300% lower power consumption.
A8-3870K, on the other hand, has a 49.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
The A8-3870K is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X4 P960 in performance tests.
Be aware that Phenom II X4 P960 is a notebook processor while A8-3870K is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Phenom II X4 P960 and A8-3870K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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