Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition: specs and benchmarks

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition
2012
6 cores / 12 threads, 150 Watt
5.81

Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition provides acceptable benchmark performance at 5.81% of a leader's which is a 96-core EPYC 9655P.

Summary

Intel started Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition sales 12 November 2012. This is a Sandy Bridge architecture desktop processor primarily aimed at office systems. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, and is based on 32 nm manufacturing technology, with a maximum frequency of 3500 MHz - 4000 MHz (1 core) 4000 MHz (2 cores) 3800 MHz (3 cores) 3800 MHz (4 cores) 3700 MHz (5 cores) 3700 MHz (6 cores) and a locked multiplier.

Compatibility-wise, this is a processor with a TDP of 150 Watt.

Primary details

Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and pricing.

Place in the ranking1129
Place by popularitynot in top-100
Market segmentDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7EE
Power efficiency3.67of 100.00 (Ryzen Z1 Extreme)
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date12 November 2012 (12 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Basic microprocessor parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters can generally indicate CPU performance, but to be more precise you have to review its test results.

Physical cores6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads12
Boost clock speed3.5 GHzof 6.2 GHz (Core i9-14900KS)
Bus typeDMI 2.0
Bus rate5 GT/s
Multiplier35of 42 (Core i7-7700K)
L2 cache1,536 KBof 2 MB (Xeon 6980P)
L3 cache15 MBof 1152 MB (EPYC 9684X)
Chip lithography32 nmof 3 nm (Apple M3 Max 16-Core)
64 bit support+
Windows 11 compatibility-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition compatibility with other computer components and devices: 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)of 8 (Opteron 842)
Power consumption (TDP)150 Wattof 500 Watt (Xeon 6960P)

Technologies and extensions

Technological capabilities and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

AES-NI+
AVX+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel number of RAM supported by Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition's memory controller. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequency may be supported.

Maximum memory size64 GBof 6 TiB (EPYC 9124)

Peripherals

Specifications and connection types of supported peripherals.

PCIe version2.00of 5.0 (Core i9-12900K)
PCI Express lanes40of 128 (EPYC 7551P)

Benchmark performance

Single-core and multi-core benchmark results of Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition. Overall benchmark performance 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.

i7-3970X Extreme Edition 5.81

3DMark Fire Strike Physics

i7-3970X Extreme Edition 12900

Gaming performance

Closest competitors

Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition's performance relative to its closest rivals among desktop CPUs.


Ryzen 5 3400G 100.17
Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 100

AMD equivalent

According to our data, the closest AMD alternative to Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition is Ryzen 5 3400G, which is nearly equal in speed and higher by 3 positions in our ranking.

Here are some closest AMD rivals to Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition:

Ryzen 5 2500X 102.58
Ryzen 5 3400G 100.17
Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 100

Similar processors

Here is our recommendation of several processors that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.

Recommended GPUs

People consider these graphics cards to be good for Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition, according to our PC configuration statistics.

These are the fastest graphics cards for Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition in our user configuration statistics. There is a total of 122 configurations using Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition in our database.

All comparisons with Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition

Community ratings

Here is the rating given to the reviewed processor by our users. Let others know your opinion by rating it yourself.


4 28 votes

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