Athlon II X4 640 vs i7-870

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-870
2009
4 cores / 8 threads, 95 Watt
1.98
+40.4%
Athlon II X4 640
2010
4 cores / 4 threads, 95 Watt
1.41

Core i7-870 outperforms Athlon II X4 640 by a considerable 40% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking19422214
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.242.92
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Power efficiency1.971.40
Architecture codenameLynnfield (2009−2010)Propus (2009−2011)
Release date8 September 2009 (15 years ago)11 May 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$305$80

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Athlon II X4 640 has 1117% better value for money than i7-870.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads84
Base clock speed2.93 GHz3 GHz
Boost clock speed3.6 GHz3 GHz
Bus rate2.5 GT/sno data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)128 KB (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)512 KB (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography45 nm45 nm
Die size296 mm2169 mm2
Maximum core temperature73 °Cno data
Number of transistors774 million300 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640 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 configuration11
SocketFCLGA1156,LGA1156AM3
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology1.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
Idle States+no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
PAE36 Bitno data

Security technologies

Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size16 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth21 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardN/Ano data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes16no 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.

i7-870 1.98
+40.4%
Athlon II X4 640 1.41

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.

i7-870 3141
+39.9%
Athlon II X4 640 2245

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.

i7-870 475
+51.8%
Athlon II X4 640 313

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.

i7-870 1554
+63.8%
Athlon II X4 640 949

3DMark Fire Strike Physics

i7-870 4590
+10.6%
Athlon II X4 640 4150

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.98 1.41
Recency 8 September 2009 11 May 2010
Threads 8 4

i7-870 has a 40.4% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.

Athlon II X4 640, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 months.

The Core i7-870 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon II X4 640 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-870 and Athlon II X4 640, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-870
Core i7-870
AMD Athlon II X4 640
Athlon II X4 640

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

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