Athlon X4 860K vs i7-3720QM

Place in the ranking	1525	1860
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Core i7	no data
Power efficiency	7.50	2.15
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)	Kaveri (2014−2015)
Release date	29 April 2012 (12 years ago)	12 August 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$378	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K 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	8	4
Base clock speed	2.6 GHz	3.7 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	4 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	256K
L2 cache	256K (per core)	4 MB
L3 cache	6 MB (shared)	no data
Chip lithography	22 nm	28 nm
Die size	160 mm²	245 mm²
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	1,400 million	2,411 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K 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	FCBGA1224, FCPGA988	FM2+
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	-
Anti-Theft	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K are enumerated here.

AMD-V	+	+
VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3-2133
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 4000	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.25 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	16

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.

i7-3720QM 3.57
+65.3%

Athlon X4 860K 2.16

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.

i7-3720QM 5667
+65.2%

Athlon X4 860K 3431

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-3720QM 598
+30.3%

Athlon X4 860K 459

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-3720QM 2016
+78.9%

Athlon X4 860K 1127

3DMark Fire Strike Physics

i7-3720QM 6190
+58.3%

Athlon X4 860K 3910

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.57	2.16
Recency	29 April 2012	12 August 2014
Threads	8	4
Chip lithography	22 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	45 Watt	95 Watt

i7-3720QM has a 65.3% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more threads, a 27.3% more advanced lithography process, and 111.1% lower power consumption.

Athlon X4 860K, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years.

The Core i7-3720QM is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 860K in performance tests.

Be aware that Core i7-3720QM is a notebook processor while Athlon X4 860K is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3720QM and Athlon X4 860K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.