AMD Athlon II X2 260u vs Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD Athlon II X2 260u CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
AMD Athlon II X2 260u Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the AMD Athlon II X2 260u and the Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the AMD Athlon II X2 260u 2 core processor released in Q3/2009 with the Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) which has 14 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2023.
AMD Athlon II (52) Family Apple M series (25)
AMD Athlon II X2 (Propus) (18) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
1 Generation 3
Propus Architecture M3
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple M2 Max (30-GPU)
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD Athlon II X2 260u is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.80 GHz. The processor can compute 2 threads at the same time. The Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) clocks with 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz), has 14 CPU cores and can calculate 14 threads in parallel.

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Characteristic Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
2 Cores 14
2 Threads 14
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.80 GHz A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
10x P-Core
-- B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
4x E-Core

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Characteristic Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 Max (30 Core)
GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
-- GPU Generation --
Technology 3 nm
Max. displays 5
-- Compute units 480
-- Shader 3840
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 96 GB
-- DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 Max (30 Core)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 16 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the AMD Athlon II X2 260u, while the Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) supports a maximum of 96 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 307.2 GB/s enabled.

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Characteristic Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
DDR3-1333 Memory LPDDR5-6400
16 GB Max. Memory 96 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 3
21.3 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 307.2 GB/s
No ECC No
2.00 MB L2 Cache 36.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
2.0 PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The AMD Athlon II X2 260u has a TDP of 25 W. The TDP of the Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) is 50 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Characteristic Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
25 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 50 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The AMD Athlon II X2 260u has 2.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 45 nm. The cache of Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) is at 36.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 3 nm.

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Characteristic Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
45 nm Technology 3 nm
Unknown Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
MMX, 3DNow!, SSE3, SSE4a ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
AM3 Socket --
AMD-V Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q3/2009 Release date Q4/2023
-- Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the AMD Athlon II X2 260u to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD Athlon II X2 260u (13%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD Athlon II X2 260u (2%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
258 (13%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
1968 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
478 (2%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 3.60 GHz
20983 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
250 (12%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
2150 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
476 (2%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 3.60 GHz
20961 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
141 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
1373 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
3125 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 3.60 GHz
19404 (100%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
103 (100%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
191 (100%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
Apple M3 Max (30 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
10650 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
715 (100%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
AMD Athlon II X2 260u AMD Athlon II X2 260u
2C 2T @ 1.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU) Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
14C 14T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

AMD Athlon II X2 260u Apple M3 Max (14-CPU 30-GPU)
Unknown Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)

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