AMD Athlon X4 530 vs Intel Core i7-950

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon X4 530 and Intel Core i7-950 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Graphics, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Security & Reliability. 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).

AMD Athlon X4 530

Intel Core i7-950

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon X4 530

A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 28 nm vs 45 nm
2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
5.2x lower typical power consumption: 25 Watt vs 130 Watt

Manufacturing process technology	28 nm vs 45 nm
L2 cache	2 MB vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	25 Watt vs 130 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-950

4 more threads: 8 vs 4
Around 50% higher maximum memory size: 24 GB vs 16 GB
2x better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1381 vs 690
Around 80% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3209 vs 1786

Specifications (specs)
Number of threads	8 vs 4
Maximum memory size	24 GB vs 16 GB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1381 vs 690
PassMark - CPU mark	3209 vs 1786

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon X4 530
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-950

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

690

1381

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1786

3209

Name	AMD Athlon X4 530	Intel Core i7-950
PassMark - Single thread mark	690	1381
PassMark - CPU mark	1786	3209
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		535
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		2092
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		2502
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.028
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		61.244
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.376
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		1.712
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		5.077

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon X4 530	Intel Core i7-950
Essentials
Architecture codename	Kabini	Bloomfield
OPN Tray	AD530XJAH44HM
Place in performance rating	2573	2598
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch date		June 2009
Launch price (MSRP)		$290
Price now		$329.99
Processor Number		i7-950
Series		Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		4.96
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2000 MHz	3.06 GHz
L1 cache	256 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2 MB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	None	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	45 nm
Number of cores	4	4
Number of threads	4	8
Bus Speed		4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size		263 mm2
Front-side bus (FSB)		1333 MHz
Maximum core temperature		67.9°C
Maximum frequency		3.33 GHz
Number of QPI Links		1
Transistor count		731 million
VID voltage range		0.800V-1.375V
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	1	3
Maximum memory size	16 GB	24 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3 800/1066
Maximum memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
Graphics
Unified Video Decoder (UVD)
Video Codec Engine (VCE)
Compatibility
Sockets supported	AM1	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	25 Watt	130 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Package Size		42.5mm x 45.0mm
Peripherals
PCI Express revision	2.0
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Thermal Monitoring
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)