Athlon II X3 420e vs Pentium G870
Aggregate performance score
Athlon II X3 420e outperforms Pentium G870 by a minimal 1% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2477 | 2471 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 1.30 | 0.05 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 1.41 | 2.06 |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Rana (2009−2011) |
| Release date | 3 June 2012 (12 years ago) | 21 September 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $97 | $116 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Pentium G870 has 2500% better value for money than Athlon II X3 420e.
Detailed specifications
Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 | 2 (Dual-core) | 3 (Tri-Core) |
| Threads | 2 | 3 |
| Base clock speed | 3.1 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.1 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | no data |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 512 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 3 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 131 mm2 | 169 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 69 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 504 million | 300 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 | FCLGA1155 | AM3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 45 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| FDI | + | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
Security technologies
Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e 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 Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors | no data |
| Graphics max frequency | 1.1 GHz | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | no 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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.99 | 1.00 |
| Recency | 3 June 2012 | 21 September 2010 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 3 |
| Threads | 2 | 3 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 45 Watt |
Pentium G870 has an age advantage of 1 year, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
Athlon II X3 420e, on the other hand, has a 1% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and 44.4% lower power consumption.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e.
Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium G870 and Athlon II X3 420e, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
