Xeon X3480 vs Phenom II X4 N970
Aggregate performance score
Xeon X3480 outperforms Phenom II X4 N970 by an impressive 98% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2433 | 1890 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | 4x AMD Phenom II | no data |
| Power efficiency | 2.81 | 2.05 |
| Architecture codename | Champlain (2010−2011) | no data |
| Release date | 16 December 2010 (13 years ago) | 1 April 2010 (14 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 3.06 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 3.73 GHz |
| Bus rate | 3600 MHz | no data |
| L1 cache | 512 KB | no data |
| L2 cache | 2 MB | no data |
| L3 cache | no data | 8 MB Intel® Smart Cache |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 73 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480 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 | no data | 1 |
| Socket | S1 | FCLGA1156,LGA1156 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 95 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 1.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | + |
| PAE | no data | 36 Bit |
Security technologies
Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480 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 Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480 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 Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3-800, DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 32 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 21 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 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.
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 | 1.04 | 2.06 |
| Recency | 16 December 2010 | 1 April 2010 |
| Threads | 4 | 8 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 95 Watt |
Phenom II X4 N970 has an age advantage of 8 months, and 171.4% lower power consumption.
Xeon X3480, on the other hand, has a 98.1% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.
The Xeon X3480 is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X4 N970 in performance tests.
Be aware that Phenom II X4 N970 is a notebook processor while Xeon X3480 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Phenom II X4 N970 and Xeon X3480, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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