AMD Athlon X4 850 vs Intel Core i7-4790

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon X4 850 and Intel Core i7-4790 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Graphics, Graphics interfaces, Graphics image quality, Graphics API support, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps).

AMD Athlon X4 850

Intel Core i7-4790

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon X4 850

CPU is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 2 month(s) later
Processor is unlocked, an unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking
Around 24% higher maximum core temperature: 90°C vs 72.72°C
Around 29% lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 84 Watt

Launch date	Jul 2015 vs 1 April 2014
Unlocked	Unlocked vs Locked
Maximum core temperature	90°C vs 72.72°C
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 84 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-4790

4 more threads: 8 vs 4
Around 3% higher clock speed: 4.00 GHz vs 3.9 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 22 nm vs 28 nm
262144x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 42% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 2231 vs 1575
2.2x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 7266 vs 3366

Specifications (specs)
Number of threads	8 vs 4
Maximum frequency	4.00 GHz vs 3.9 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	22 nm vs 28 nm
L2 cache	1 MB vs 4MB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	2231 vs 1575
PassMark - CPU mark	7266 vs 3366

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon X4 850
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-4790

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1575

2231

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

3366

7266

Name	AMD Athlon X4 850	Intel Core i7-4790
PassMark - Single thread mark	1575	2231
PassMark - CPU mark	3366	7266
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		943
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		3461
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		2429
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		5.169
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		89.044
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.65
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		2.582
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		6.435
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Frames)		1245
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)		2226
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)		3807
GFXBench 4.0 - Car Chase Offscreen (Fps)		1245
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)		2226
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)		3807

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon X4 850	Intel Core i7-4790
Essentials
Architecture codename	Godaveri	Haswell
Launch date	Jul 2015	1 April 2014
Place in performance rating	1621	1626
Launch price (MSRP)		$303
Price now		$278.99
Processor Number		i7-4790
Series		4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		10.55
Vertical segment		Desktop
Performance
Base frequency	3.2 GHz	3.60 GHz
Die size	245 mm²	177 mm
L1 cache	256K	256 KB
L2 cache	4MB	1 MB
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	22 nm
Maximum core temperature	90°C	72.72°C
Maximum frequency	3.9 GHz	4.00 GHz
Number of cores	4	4
Number of threads	4	8
Transistor count	2,411 million	1400 Million
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed		5 GT/s DMI2
L3 cache		8 MB
Maximum case temperature (TCase)		72 °C
Memory
ECC memory support
Supported memory types	DDR3-2133 MHz, Dual-channel	DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V
Max memory channels		2
Maximum memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size		32 GB
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	FM2+	FCLGA1150
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	84 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		37.5mm x 37.5mm
Thermal Solution		PCG 2013D
Peripherals
PCIe configurations	Gen 3, 16 Lanes, (CPU only)	Up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8+2x4
Max number of PCIe lanes		16
PCI Express revision		Up to 3.0
Scalability		1S Only
Graphics
Device ID		0x412
Graphics base frequency		350 MHz
Graphics max dynamic frequency		1.20 GHz
Graphics max frequency		1.2 GHz
Intel® Clear Video HD technology
Intel® Flexible Display Interface (Intel® FDI)
Intel® InTru™ 3D technology
Intel® Quick Sync Video
Max video memory		2 GB
Processor graphics		Intel® HD Graphics 4600
Graphics interfaces
DisplayPort
DVI
eDP
HDMI
Number of displays supported		3
VGA
Wireless Display (WiDi) support
Graphics image quality
Max resolution over DisplayPort		3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over eDP		3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4		4096x2304@24Hz
Max resolution over VGA		1920x1200@60Hz
Graphics API support
DirectX		11.2/12
OpenGL		4.3
Security & Reliability
Anti-Theft technology
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® OS Guard
Intel® Secure Key technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Flexible Display interface (FDI)
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
Intel 64
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® My WiFi technology
Intel® Stable Image Platform Program (SIPP)
Intel® TSX-NI
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)