AMD Athlon II X3 420e vs AMD Athlon II X4 605e

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X3 420e and AMD Athlon II X4 605e processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score.

AMD Athlon II X3 420e

AMD Athlon II X4 605e

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X3 420e

CPU is newer: launch date 11 month(s) later
Around 13% higher clock speed: 2.6 GHz vs 2.3 GHz
Around 7% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1058 vs 986

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	September 2010 vs October 2009
Maximum frequency	2.6 GHz vs 2.3 GHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1058 vs 986

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X4 605e

1 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 3
Around 33% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 33% more L2 cache; more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 26% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 1963 vs 1557

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	4 vs 3
L1 cache	128 KB (per core) vs 128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB (per core) vs 512 KB (per core)
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	1963 vs 1557

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X3 420e
CPU 2: AMD Athlon II X4 605e

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1058

986

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1557

1963

Name	AMD Athlon II X3 420e	AMD Athlon II X4 605e
PassMark - Single thread mark	1058	986
PassMark - CPU mark	1557	1963
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		1433
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		4113
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		0

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon II X3 420e	AMD Athlon II X4 605e
Essentials
Architecture codename	Rana	Propus
Launch date	September 2010	October 2009
Launch price (MSRP)	$116	$102
Place in performance rating	2114	2074
Price now	$116.15	$101.80
Value for money (0-100)	5.80	7.96
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	169 mm	169 mm
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	45 nm
Maximum frequency	2.6 GHz	2.3 GHz
Number of cores	3	4
Transistor count	300 million	300 million
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	AM3	AM3
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	45 Watt	45 Watt