Ryzen 9 7900X vs Athlon X4 970
Aggregate performance score
Ryzen 9 7900X outperforms Athlon X4 970 by a whopping 1853% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2058 | 122 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 2.43 | 18.12 |
| Architecture codename | Bristol Ridge (2016−2019) | Raphael (Zen4) (2022−2023) |
| Release date | 27 July 2017 (7 years ago) | 27 September 2022 (2 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X 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) | 12 (Dodeca-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 24 |
| Base clock speed | 3.8 GHz | 4.7 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4 GHz | 5.6 GHz |
| L1 cache | 128 KB (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 512 KB (per core) | 1 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 64 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 5 nm |
| Die size | 246 mm2 | 2x 70 (CCD) mm2 + 122 (I/O) mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 95 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 74 °C | 47 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,178 million | CCD: 6,5 Mrd + IOD: 3,4 Mrd Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X 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 | AM4 | AM5 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 170 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | 5 nm (CCD), 6 nm (I/O) nm, 0.650 - 1.475V |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| FMA | + | - |
| AVX | + | + |
| Precision Boost 2 | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 Dual-channel | DDR5-5200 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X.
| PCIe version | no data | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 24 |
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.73 | 33.79 |
| Recency | 27 July 2017 | 27 September 2022 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 12 |
| Threads | 4 | 24 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 5 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 170 Watt |
Athlon X4 970 has 161.5% lower power consumption.
Ryzen 9 7900X, on the other hand, has a 1853.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads, and a 460% more advanced lithography process.
The Ryzen 9 7900X is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 970 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon X4 970 and Ryzen 9 7900X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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