Athlon X4 970 vs Ryzen 5 1600

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Aggregate performance score

Ryzen 5 1600
2017
6 cores / 12 threads, 65 Watt
7.73
+366%
Athlon X4 970
2017
4 cores / 4 threads, 65 Watt
1.66

Ryzen 5 1600 outperforms Athlon X4 970 by a whopping 366% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking9482060
Place by popularity44not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation4.52no data
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Ryzen 5no data
Power efficiency11.252.42
Architecture codenameZen 2 (2017−2020)Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date11 April 2017 (7 years ago)27 July 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$219no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970 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 cores6 (Hexa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads124
Base clock speed3.2 GHz3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed3.6 GHz4 GHz
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/sno data
Multiplier32no data
L1 cache96K (per core)128 KB (per core)
L2 cache512K (per core)512 KB (per core)
L3 cache16 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography14 nm28 nm
Die size192 mm2246 mm2
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data74 °C
Number of transistors4,800 million1,178 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970 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
SocketAM4AM4
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsXFR, FMA3, SSE 4.2, AVX2, SMTno data
AES-NI++
FMA-+
AVX++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

AMD-V++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size64 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/sno data
ECC memory support+-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970.

PCIe version3.0no data
PCI Express lanes20no data

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.

Ryzen 5 1600 7.73
+366%
Athlon X4 970 1.66

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.

Ryzen 5 1600 12278
+364%
Athlon X4 970 2644

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 7.73 1.66
Recency 11 April 2017 27 July 2017
Physical cores 6 4
Threads 12 4
Chip lithography 14 nm 28 nm

Ryzen 5 1600 has a 365.7% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

Athlon X4 970, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 months.

The Ryzen 5 1600 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 970 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 5 1600 and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Ryzen 5 1600
AMD Athlon X4 970
Athlon X4 970

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Community ratings

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


4.1 5757 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Ryzen 5 1600 or Athlon X4 970, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.