Intel Core i7-870 vs AMD Athlon 64 3300+

Comparative analysis of Intel Core i7-870 and AMD Athlon 64 3300+ processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, 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).

 

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-870

  • CPU is newer: launch date 5 year(s) 5 month(s) later
  • 3 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 1
  • Around 50% higher clock speed: 3.60 GHz vs 2.4 GHz
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 130 nm
  • 2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
  • 4x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • Around 89% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1384 vs 734
  • 5.4x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3137 vs 576
Specifications (specs)
Launch date September 2009 vs April 2004
Number of cores 4 vs 1
Maximum frequency 3.60 GHz vs 2.4 GHz
Manufacturing process technology 45 nm vs 130 nm
L1 cache 64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB
L2 cache 256 KB (per core) vs 256 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark 1384 vs 734
PassMark - CPU mark 3137 vs 576

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon 64 3300+

  • Around 7% lower typical power consumption: 89 Watt vs 95 Watt
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 89 Watt vs 95 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Core i7-870
CPU 2: AMD Athlon 64 3300+

PassMark - Single thread mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
1384
734
PassMark - CPU mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
3137
576
Name Intel Core i7-870 AMD Athlon 64 3300+
PassMark - Single thread mark 1384 734
PassMark - CPU mark 3137 576
Geekbench 4 - Single Core 547
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core 2032
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score 2453
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 1.029
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 53.478
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 0.342
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s) 1.541
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s) 4.602

Compare specifications (specs)

Intel Core i7-870 AMD Athlon 64 3300+

Essentials

Architecture codename Lynnfield NewCastle
Launch date September 2009 April 2004
Launch price (MSRP) $197
Place in performance rating 2671 2675
Price now $98.99
Processor Number i7-870
Series Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status Discontinued
Value for money (0-100) 15.90
Vertical segment Desktop Desktop

Performance

64 bit support
Base frequency 2.93 GHz
Bus Speed 2.5 GT/s DMI
Die size 296 mm2 144 mm
L1 cache 64 KB (per core) 128 KB
L2 cache 256 KB (per core) 256 KB
L3 cache 8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology 45 nm 130 nm
Maximum core temperature 72.7°C
Maximum frequency 3.60 GHz 2.4 GHz
Number of cores 4 1
Number of threads 8
Transistor count 774 million 105 million
VID voltage range 0.6500V-1.4000V

Memory

Max memory channels 2
Maximum memory bandwidth 21 GB/s
Maximum memory size 16 GB
Supported memory types DDR3 1066/1333

Compatibility

Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration 1 1
Package Size 37.5mm x 37.5mm
Sockets supported LGA1156 754
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 95 Watt 89 Watt

Peripherals

Max number of PCIe lanes 16
PCI Express revision 2.0
PCIe configurations 1x16, 2x8

Security & Reliability

Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)

Advanced Technologies

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Physical Address Extensions (PAE) 36-bit
Thermal Monitoring

Virtualization

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)