AMD Athlon II X4 641 vs Intel Core i7-970

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X4 641 and Intel Core i7-970 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Virtualization, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 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).

AMD Athlon II X4 641

Intel Core i7-970

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X4 641

CPU is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 7 month(s) later
Around 3% higher maximum core temperature: 70.10°C vs 67.9°C
Around 33% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
2.7x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 30% lower typical power consumption: 100 Watt vs 130 Watt

Launch date	February 2012 vs July 2010
Maximum core temperature	70.10°C vs 67.9°C
L1 cache	512 KB vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	100 Watt vs 130 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-970

2 more cores, run more applications at once: 6 vs 4
8 more threads: 12 vs 4
Around 24% higher clock speed: 3.46 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
Around 23% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1467 vs 1189
2.8x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 6546 vs 2313
Around 60% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 592 vs 369
2.6x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 3217 vs 1247

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	6 vs 4
Number of threads	12 vs 4
Maximum frequency	3.46 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1467 vs 1189
PassMark - CPU mark	6546 vs 2313
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	592 vs 369
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	3217 vs 1247

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X4 641
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-970

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1189

1467

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

2313

6546

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

369

592

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

1247

3217

Name	AMD Athlon II X4 641	Intel Core i7-970
PassMark - Single thread mark	1189	1467
PassMark - CPU mark	2313	6546
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	369	592
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	1247	3217
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.559
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		49.006
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.506
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		2.584
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		6.816

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon II X4 641	Intel Core i7-970
Essentials
Architecture codename	Llano	Gulftown
Family	AMD Athlon Processors
Launch date	February 2012	July 2010
OPN PIB	AD641XWNGXBOX
OPN Tray	AD641XWNZ43GX
Place in performance rating	2473	2474
Price now	$91.50	$148.99
Series	AMD Athlon II X4	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Value for money (0-100)	10.77	16.59
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$662
Processor Number		i7-970
Status		Discontinued
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.8 GHz	3.20 GHz
Die size	228 mm	239 mm2
L1 cache	512 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB	256 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm	32 nm
Maximum core temperature	70.10°C	67.9°C
Maximum frequency	2.8 GHz	3.46 GHz
Number of cores	4	6
Number of threads	4	12
Transistor count	1178 million	1170 million
Unlocked
Bus Speed		4.8 GT/s QPI
L3 cache		12288 KB (shared)
Number of QPI Links		1
VID voltage range		0.800V-1.375V
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3 800/1066
Max memory channels		3
Maximum memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size		24 GB
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	FM1 uPGA	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	100 Watt	130 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		42.5mm X 45.0mm
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Thermal Monitoring