Athlon X4 870K vs Xeon E3-1220

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

Xeon E3-1220
2011
4 cores / 4 threads, 80 Watt
2.53
+15%

Xeon E3-1220 outperforms Athlon X4 870K by a moderate 15% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking16571754
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.94no data
Market segmentServerDesktop processor
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Godaveri (2014−2018)
Release date3 April 2011 (13 years ago)December 2015 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$395no data
Current price$85 (0.2x MSRP)$49

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads44
Base clock speed3.1 GHz3.9 GHz
Boost clock speed3.4 GHz4.1 GHz
L1 cache64 KB (per core)256K
L2 cache256 KB (per core)4 MB
L3 cache8 MB (shared)no data
Chip lithography32 nm28 nm
Die size216 mm2245 mm2
Maximum core temperature69 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors1,160 million2,411 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-no data
Unlocked multiplierNoYes

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K 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
SocketLGA1155FM2+
Power consumption (TDP)80 Watt95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVXno data
AES-NI++
FMAno data+
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology-no data
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+no data
Flex Memory Access+no data
Demand Based Switching+no data
FDI-no data
Fast Memory Access+no data
StatusDiscontinuedno data

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data
Identity Protection+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3-2133
Maximum memory size32 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth21 GB/sno data
ECC memory support+no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K.

PCIe version2.03.0
PCI Express lanes2016

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.

Xeon E3-1220 2.53
+15%
Athlon X4 870K 2.20

Xeon E3-1220 outperforms Athlon X4 870K by 15% based on our aggregate benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

Xeon E3-1220 3915
+14.8%
Athlon X4 870K 3410

Xeon E3-1220 outperforms Athlon X4 870K by 15% in Passmark.

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Xeon E3-1220 519
+11.1%
Athlon X4 870K 467

Xeon E3-1220 outperforms Athlon X4 870K by 11% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Xeon E3-1220 1549
+28.8%
Athlon X4 870K 1203

Xeon E3-1220 outperforms Athlon X4 870K by 29% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 2.53 2.20
Chip lithography 32 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 80 Watt 95 Watt

The Xeon E3-1220 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 870K in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E3-1220 is a server/workstation processor while Athlon X4 870K is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1220 and Athlon X4 870K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Xeon E3-1220
Xeon E3-1220
AMD Athlon X4 870K
Athlon X4 870K

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.


4.1 217 votes

Rate Xeon E3-1220 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
4.3 68 votes

Rate Athlon X4 870K on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Xeon E3-1220 or Athlon X4 870K, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.