AMD Athlon X4 870K vs Intel Core i7-3960X

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon X4 870K and Intel Core i7-3960X processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Security & Reliability, 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).

AMD Athlon X4 870K

Intel Core i7-3960X

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon X4 870K

Around 5% higher clock speed: 4.1 GHz vs 3.90 GHz
Around 8% higher maximum core temperature: 72.40°C vs 66.8°C
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 28 nm vs 32 nm
2.7x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 37% lower typical power consumption: 95 Watt vs 130 Watt

Maximum frequency	4.1 GHz vs 3.90 GHz
Maximum core temperature	72.40°C vs 66.8°C
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm vs 32 nm
L2 cache	4 MB vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt vs 130 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-3960X

2 more cores, run more applications at once: 6 vs 4
8 more threads: 12 vs 4
3x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 15% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1797 vs 1558
2.5x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 8401 vs 3410
Around 54% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 821 vs 532
3x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 4933 vs 1619

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	6 vs 4
Number of threads	12 vs 4
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1797 vs 1558
PassMark - CPU mark	8401 vs 3410
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	821 vs 532
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	4933 vs 1619

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon X4 870K
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-3960X

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1558

1797

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

3410

8401

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

532

821

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

1619

4933

Name	AMD Athlon X4 870K	Intel Core i7-3960X
PassMark - Single thread mark	1558	1797
PassMark - CPU mark	3410	8401
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	532	821
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	1619	4933
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		5484
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		6.358
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		27.376
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.727
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		2.924
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		7.797

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon X4 870K	Intel Core i7-3960X
Essentials
Family	AMD Athlon Processors
OPN PIB	AD870KXBJCSBX
Place in performance rating	2034	2041
Series	AMD Athlon X4	Intel® Core™ X-series Processors
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Architecture codename		Sandy Bridge E
Launch date		November 2011
Launch price (MSRP)		$861
Price now		$799.99
Processor Number		i7-3960X
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		4.64
Performance
Base frequency	3.9 GHz	3.30 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB	256 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	32 nm
Maximum core temperature	72.40°C	66.8°C
Maximum frequency	4.1 GHz	3.90 GHz
Number of cores	4	6
Number of threads	4	12
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed		5 GT/s DMI2
Die size		435 mm
L3 cache		15360 KB (shared)
Maximum case temperature (TCase)		67 °C
Transistor count		2270 million
VID voltage range		0.6V-1.35V
Memory
Max memory channels	2	4
Supported memory frequency	2133 MHz
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3 1066/1333/1600
Maximum memory bandwidth		51.2 GB/s
Maximum memory size		64 GB
Compatibility
Sockets supported	FM2+	FCLGA2011
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt	130 Watt
Thermal Solution	Near Silent 95W
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Package Size		52.5mm x 45.0mm
Peripherals
PCI Express revision	3.0	2.0
Max number of PCIe lanes		40
Advanced Technologies
Fused Multiply-Add 4 (FMA4)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
Intel 64
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Smart Response technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Thermal Monitoring
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)