Athlon 650 vs i7-970
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-970 and Athlon 650 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1387 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.28 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 3.00 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Gulftown (2010−2011) | Thunderbird (1999−2000) |
| Release date | 19 July 2010 (14 years ago) | 9 August 1999 (25 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $662 | $849 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i7-970 and Athlon 650 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 | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 1 |
| Base clock speed | 3.2 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 3.46 GHz | 0.65 GHz |
| Bus rate | 4.8 GT/s | no data |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 12 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 180 nm |
| Die size | 239 mm2 | 184 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 68 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 70 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,170 million | 22 million |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-970 and Athlon 650 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 | FCLGA1366 | A |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 48 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 650. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 1.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
Security technologies
Core i7-970 and Athlon 650 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 i7-970 and Athlon 650 are enumerated here.
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 650. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR1 |
| Maximum memory size | 24 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 3 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 650.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 19 July 2010 | 9 August 1999 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 1 |
| Threads | 12 | 1 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 180 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 48 Watt |
i7-970 has an age advantage of 10 years, 500% more physical cores and 1100% more threads, and a 462.5% more advanced lithography process.
Athlon 650, on the other hand, has 170.8% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Core i7-970 and Athlon 650. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-970 and Athlon 650, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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