AMD Athlon X4 970 vs Intel Core i7-5960X

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon X4 970 and Intel Core i7-5960X processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Graphics, 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 970

Intel Core i7-5960X

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon X4 970

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 10 month(s) later
Around 14% higher clock speed: 4 GHz vs 3.50 GHz
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
2.2x lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 140 Watt

Launch date	27 July 2017 vs 1 September 2014
Maximum frequency	4 GHz vs 3.50 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core) vs 256 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 140 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-5960X

4 more cores, run more applications at once: 8 vs 4
12 more threads: 16 vs 4
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 22 nm vs 28 nm
Around 17% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1987 vs 1700
3.3x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 12744 vs 3811

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	8 vs 4
Number of threads	16 vs 4
Manufacturing process technology	22 nm vs 28 nm
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1987 vs 1700
PassMark - CPU mark	12744 vs 3811

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon X4 970
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-5960X

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1700

1987

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

3811

12744

Name	AMD Athlon X4 970	Intel Core i7-5960X
PassMark - Single thread mark	1700	1987
PassMark - CPU mark	3811	12744
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		1000
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		7886
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		5203
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		10.511
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		196.307
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		1.218
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		5.467
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		14.265

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon X4 970	Intel Core i7-5960X
Essentials
Architecture codename	Bristol Ridge	Haswell E
Family	AMD Athlon Processors
Launch date	27 July 2017	1 September 2014
OPN PIB	AD970XAUABBOX
OPN Tray	AD970XAUM44AB
Place in performance rating	1500	1477
Series	AMD Athlon X4	Intel® Core™ X-series Processors
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$999
Price now		$768.99
Processor Number		i7-5960X
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		6.11
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	3.8 GHz	3.00 GHz
Die size	246 mm	356 mm
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	256 KB
L2 cache	2 MB	2 MB
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	22 nm
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	74 °C
Maximum frequency	4 GHz	3.50 GHz
Number of cores	4	8
Number of threads	4	16
Transistor count	1178 million	2600 million
Unlocked
Bus Speed		0 GT/s
L3 cache		20 MB
Maximum core temperature		66.8 °C
Memory
Supported memory frequency	2400 MHz
Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4 1600/1866/2133
Max memory channels		4
Maximum memory bandwidth		68 GB/s
Maximum memory size		64 GB
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	AM4	FCLGA2011-3
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	140 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		52.5mm x 45.0mm
Peripherals
PCI Express revision	3.0	3.0
Max number of PCIe lanes		40
Scalability		1S Only
Advanced Technologies
Fused Multiply-Add (FMA)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
Intel 64
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Smart Response technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)
Graphics
Processor graphics		None
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)