Pentium 957 vs i7-4720HQ

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1489	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i7	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	7.29	no data
Architecture codename	Haswell (2013−2015)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	1 January 2015 (9 years ago)	13 June 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$378	$134

Detailed specifications

Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 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)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	8	2
Base clock speed	2.6 GHz	1.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	1.2 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 2.0
Bus rate	5 GT/s	4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	12
L1 cache	256 KB	128 KB
L2 cache	1 MB	512 KB
L3 cache	6 MB	2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Die size	177 mm2	131 mm2
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	1400 Million	504 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 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 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	FCBGA1364	FCBGA1023
Power consumption (TDP)	47 Watt	17 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	-
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	no data	-
Turbo Boost Technology	no data	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
FDI	+	+
Fast Memory Access	no data	+

Security technologies

Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	8.01 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 4600	Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)
Max video memory	2 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	-
Graphics max frequency	1.2 GHz	800 MHz
InTru 3D	+	-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	2
eDP	+	+
DisplayPort	+	+
HDMI	+	+
VGA	+	no data
SDVO	no data	+
CRT	no data	+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	3840x2160@30Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	3840x2160@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over VGA	2880x1800@60Hz	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	11.2/12	no data
OpenGL	4.3	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957.

PCIe version	3	2.0
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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Recency	1 January 2015	13 June 2011
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	8	2
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	47 Watt	17 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-4720HQ and Pentium 957, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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