AMD Athlon X4 970 vs Intel Core i7-6950X

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon X4 970 and Intel Core i7-6950X 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 i7-6950X

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon X4 970

CPU is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 4 month(s) later
Around 14% higher clock speed: 4 GHz vs 3.50 GHz
Around 60% 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 10 March 2016
Maximum frequency	4 GHz vs 3.50 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core) vs 320 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 140 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-6950X

6 more cores, run more applications at once: 10 vs 4
16 more threads: 20 vs 4
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 14 nm vs 28 nm
Around 25% more L2 cache; more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 38% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 2341 vs 1700
4.6x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 17419 vs 3811

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	10 vs 4
Number of threads	20 vs 4
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm vs 28 nm
L2 cache	2.5 MB vs 2 MB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	2341 vs 1700
PassMark - CPU mark	17419 vs 3811

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon X4 970
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-6950X

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1700

2341

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

3811

17419

Name	AMD Athlon X4 970	Intel Core i7-6950X
PassMark - Single thread mark	1700	2341
PassMark - CPU mark	3811	17419
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		977
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		9071
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		6073
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		10.499
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		103.335
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		1.263
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		5.312
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		14.075

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon X4 970	Intel Core i7-6950X
Essentials
Architecture codename	Bristol Ridge	Broadwell E
Family	AMD Athlon Processors
Launch date	27 July 2017	10 March 2016
OPN PIB	AD970XAUABBOX
OPN Tray	AD970XAUM44AB
Place in performance rating	1403	1411
Series	AMD Athlon X4	Intel® Core™ X-series Processors
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$1,723
Price now		$1,575.99
Processor Number		i7-6950X
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		3.73
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	3.8 GHz	3.00 GHz
Die size	246 mm	246 mm
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	320 KB
L2 cache	2 MB	2.5 MB
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	14 nm
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	74 °C	72 °C
Maximum frequency	4 GHz	3.50 GHz
Number of cores	4	10
Number of threads	4	20
Transistor count	1178 million	3200 Million
Unlocked
Front-side bus (FSB)		9.6 GT / s / QPI
L3 cache		25 MB
Memory
Supported memory frequency	2400 MHz
Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4 2400/2133
Max memory channels		4
Maximum memory size		128 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
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
Intel 64
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Smart Response technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Turbo Boost Max 3.0
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® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)