AMD Athlon II X2 270u vs Intel Pentium D 960

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X2 270u and Intel Pentium D 960 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark.

AMD Athlon II X2 270u

Intel Pentium D 960

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X2 270u

CPU is newer: launch date 4 year(s) 4 month(s) later
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
4.6x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
5.2x lower typical power consumption: 25 Watt vs 130 Watt
Around 1% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 791 vs 782

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	September 2010 vs May 2006
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 65 nm
L1 cache	128 KB vs 28 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	25 Watt vs 130 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	791 vs 782

Reasons to consider the Intel Pentium D 960

Around 80% higher clock speed: 3.6 GHz vs 2 GHz
4x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 20% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 807 vs 675

Specifications (specs)
Maximum frequency	3.6 GHz vs 2 GHz
L2 cache	4096 KB vs 1024 KB
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2 vs 1
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	807 vs 675

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X2 270u
CPU 2: Intel Pentium D 960

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

791

782

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

675

807

Name	AMD Athlon II X2 270u	Intel Pentium D 960
PassMark - Single thread mark	791	782
PassMark - CPU mark	675	807

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon II X2 270u	Intel Pentium D 960
Essentials
Architecture codename	Regor	Presler
Launch date	September 2010	May 2006
Launch price (MSRP)	$68
Place in performance rating	2484	2490
Price now	$67.67
Value for money (0-100)	5.88
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Processor Number		960
Series		Legacy Intel® Pentium® Processor
Status		Discontinued
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	117 mm	162 mm2
L1 cache	128 KB	28 KB
L2 cache	1024 KB	4096 KB
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	65 nm
Maximum frequency	2 GHz	3.6 GHz
Number of cores	2	2
Transistor count	410 million	376 million
Base frequency		3.60 GHz
Bus Speed		800 MHz FSB
Maximum core temperature		C1=68.6°C, D0=63.4°C
VID voltage range		1.200V-1.3375V
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR2, DDR3	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	2
Sockets supported	AM3	PLGA775
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	25 Watt	130 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		37.5mm x 37.5mm
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
FSB parity
Idle States
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		32-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)