AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs AMD Athlon II X2 280

Comparative analysis of AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and AMD Athlon II X2 280 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: 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), PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

AMD Ryzen 9 3900

AMD Athlon II X2 280

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Ryzen 9 3900

CPU is newer: launch date 6 year(s) 7 month(s) later
Processor is unlocked, an unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking
10 more cores, run more applications at once: 12 vs 2
Around 119344% higher clock speed: 4300 MHz vs 3.6 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 7 nm vs 45 nm
6x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
6x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later

Launch date	24 Sep 2019 vs February 2013
Unlocked	Unlocked vs Locked
Number of cores	12 vs 2
Maximum frequency	4300 MHz vs 3.6 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm vs 45 nm
L1 cache	768 KB vs 128 KB
L2 cache	6 MB vs 1024 KB

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Ryzen 9 3900
CPU 2: AMD Athlon II X2 280

Name	AMD Ryzen 9 3900	AMD Athlon II X2 280
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	30.97
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	70.972
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	1.748
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	4.924
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	19.043
PassMark - Single thread mark		1462
PassMark - CPU mark		1355
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		1941
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		3272

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Ryzen 9 3900	AMD Athlon II X2 280
Essentials
Architecture codename	Zen 2	Regor
Launch date	24 Sep 2019	February 2013
OPN Tray	100-000000070
Place in performance rating	1372	1395
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$100
Price now		$99.99
Value for money (0-100)		6.28
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	3100 MHz
L1 cache	768 KB	128 KB
L2 cache	6 MB	1024 KB
L3 cache	64 MB
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	95 °C
Maximum frequency	4300 MHz	3.6 GHz
Number of cores	12	2
Number of threads	24
Unlocked
Die size		117 mm
Transistor count		410 million
Memory
Max memory channels	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	47.68 GB/s
Maximum memory size	128 GB
Supported memory types	DDR4-3200	DDR2, DDR3
Compatibility
Sockets supported	AM4	AM3
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	65 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	20
PCI Express revision	4.0
PCIe configurations	1x16+x4, 2x8+x4, 1x8+2x4+x4
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP)
Fused Multiply-Add 3 (FMA3)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2)
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)