Intel Core i7-960 vs AMD Athlon 64 3400+

Comparative analysis of Intel Core i7-960 and AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 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 i7-960

  • CPU is newer: launch date 8 year(s) 8 month(s) later
  • 3 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 1
  • Around 44% higher clock speed: 3.46 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
  • 2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • 2.2x better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1459 vs 652
  • 6.1x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3347 vs 545
Specifications (specs)
Launch date October 2009 vs January 2001
Number of cores 4 vs 1
Maximum frequency 3.46 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 512 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark 1459 vs 652
PassMark - CPU mark 3347 vs 545

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon 64 3400+

  • 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 i7-960
CPU 2: AMD Athlon 64 3400+

PassMark - Single thread mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
1459
652
PassMark - CPU mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
3347
545
Name Intel Core i7-960 AMD Athlon 64 3400+
PassMark - Single thread mark 1459 652
PassMark - CPU mark 3347 545
Geekbench 4 - Single Core 565
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core 2198
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score 0
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 1.115
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 59.327
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 0.374
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s) 0.395
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s) 4.942

Compare specifications (specs)

Intel Core i7-960 AMD Athlon 64 3400+

Essentials

Architecture codename Bloomfield Clawhammer
Launch date October 2009 January 2001
Launch price (MSRP) $316
Place in performance rating 2765 2772
Price now $99.99
Processor Number i7-960
Series Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status Discontinued
Value for money (0-100) 17.14
Vertical segment Desktop Desktop

Performance

64 bit support
Base frequency 3.20 GHz
Bus Speed 4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size 263 mm2 193 mm
Front-side bus (FSB) 1333 MHz
L1 cache 64 KB (per core) 128 KB
L2 cache 256 KB (per core) 512 KB
L3 cache 8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology 45 nm 130 nm
Maximum core temperature 67.9°C
Maximum frequency 3.46 GHz 2.4 GHz
Number of cores 4 1
Number of QPI Links 1
Number of threads 8
Transistor count 731 million 105 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 754
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)