Athlon X4 970 vs Ryzen 5 3500X

Place in the ranking	902	2057
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	AMD Ryzen 5	no data
Power efficiency	12.06	2.43
Architecture codename	Matisse (2019−2020)	Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	24 September 2019 (5 years ago)	27 July 2017 (7 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Ryzen 5 3500X 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 cores	6 (Hexa-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	6	4
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	4.1 GHz	4 GHz
L1 cache	384 KB	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	3 MB	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	32 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	7 nm, 12 nm	28 nm
Die size	no data	246 mm²
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	4,800 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	-
Unlocked multiplier	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 5 3500X 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 configuration	1 (Uniprocessor)	1
Socket	AM4	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 5 3500X and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
Precision Boost 2	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 5 3500X and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 5 3500X and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4 Dual-channel	DDR4 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size	128 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	51.196 GB/s	no 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 3500X 8.60
+397%

Athlon X4 970 1.73

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 3500X 13165
+398%

Athlon X4 970 2644

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.60	1.73
Recency	24 September 2019	27 July 2017
Physical cores	6	4
Threads	6	4
Chip lithography	7 nm	28 nm

Ryzen 5 3500X has a 397.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and a 300% more advanced lithography process.

The Ryzen 5 3500X is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 970 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 5 3500X and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.