Intel Core i7-950 vs AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+

Comparative analysis of Intel Core i7-950 and AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+ processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, 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 i7-950

  • CPU is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 2 month(s) later
  • 2 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 2
  • Around 11% higher clock speed: 3.33 GHz vs 3 GHz
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
  • 2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • Around 85% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1379 vs 746
  • 4.9x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3215 vs 653
Specifications (specs)
Launch date June 2009 vs April 2008
Number of cores 4 vs 2
Maximum frequency 3.33 GHz vs 3 GHz
Manufacturing process technology 45 nm vs 65 nm
L2 cache 256 KB (per core) vs 512 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark 1379 vs 746
PassMark - CPU mark 3215 vs 653

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+

  • Around 46% lower typical power consumption: 89 Watt vs 130 Watt
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 89 Watt vs 130 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Core i7-950
CPU 2: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+

PassMark - Single thread mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
1379
746
PassMark - CPU mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
3215
653
Name Intel Core i7-950 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+
PassMark - Single thread mark 1379 746
PassMark - CPU mark 3215 653
Geekbench 4 - Single Core 535
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core 2092
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score 2502
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 1.028
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 61.244
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 0.376
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s) 1.712
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s) 5.077

Compare specifications (specs)

Intel Core i7-950 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+

Essentials

Architecture codename Bloomfield Brisbane
Launch date June 2009 April 2008
Launch price (MSRP) $290
Place in performance rating 2639 2641
Price now $329.99 $24.99
Processor Number i7-950
Series Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status Discontinued
Value for money (0-100) 4.96 18.01
Vertical segment Desktop Desktop

Performance

64 bit support
Base frequency 3.06 GHz
Bus Speed 4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size 263 mm2 126 mm
Front-side bus (FSB) 1333 MHz
L1 cache 64 KB (per core) 256 KB
L2 cache 256 KB (per core) 512 KB
L3 cache 8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology 45 nm 65 nm
Maximum core temperature 67.9°C
Maximum frequency 3.33 GHz 3 GHz
Number of cores 4 2
Number of QPI Links 1
Number of threads 8
Transistor count 731 million 154 million
VID voltage range 0.800V-1.375V

Memory

Max memory channels 3
Maximum memory bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size 24 GB
Supported memory types DDR3 800/1066

Compatibility

Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration 1 1
Package Size 42.5mm x 45.0mm
Sockets supported FCLGA1366 AM2
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 130 Watt 89 Watt

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
Physical Address Extensions (PAE) 36-bit
Thermal Monitoring

Virtualization

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)