Athlon X4 970 vs Xeon E3-1270
Aggregate performance score
Xeon E3-1270 outperforms Athlon X4 970 by a whopping 102% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1559 | 2060 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 1.14 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 3.98 | 2.42 |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Bristol Ridge (2016−2019) |
| Release date | 3 April 2011 (13 years ago) | 27 July 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $369 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970 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 | 8 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 3.4 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.8 GHz | 4 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 512 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 28 nm |
| Die size | 216 mm2 | 246 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 69 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 74 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,160 million | 1,178 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970 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 | LGA1155 | AM4 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX | no data |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| FMA | - | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| FDI | - | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
Security technologies
Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4 Dual-channel |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 20 | 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 | 3.38 | 1.67 |
| Recency | 3 April 2011 | 27 July 2017 |
| Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 28 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Xeon E3-1270 has a 102.4% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.
Athlon X4 970, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 6 years, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 23.1% lower power consumption.
The Xeon E3-1270 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon X4 970 in performance tests.
Be aware that Xeon E3-1270 is a server/workstation processor while Athlon X4 970 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1270 and Athlon X4 970, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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