Athlon X4 970 vs A8-3870K

Place in the ranking	2155	2055
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	1.39	2.43
Architecture codename	Llano (2011−2012)	Bristol Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	20 December 2011 (12 years ago)	27 July 2017 (7 years ago)

Detailed specifications

A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	4 (Quad-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	3 GHz	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3 GHz	4 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Die size	228 mm²	246 mm²
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	1,178 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	+	+

Compatibility

Information on A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Socket	FM1	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR3

DDR4 Dual-channel

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

AMD Radeon HD 6550D

no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

A8-3870K 1.52

Athlon X4 970 1.73
+13.8%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

A8-3870K 2321

Athlon X4 970 2644
+13.9%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.52	1.73
Recency	20 December 2011	27 July 2017
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	65 Watt

Athlon X4 970 has a 13.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 53.8% lower power consumption.

The Athlon X4 970 is our recommended choice as it beats the A8-3870K in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between A8-3870K and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.