AMD Ryzen 5 1600X vs AMD Phenom II X4 970

Last updated: 2024-04-12

CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD Ryzen 5 1600X		AMD Phenom II X4 970
CPU comparison AMD Ryzen 5 1600X or AMD Phenom II X4 970 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X has 6 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.70 GHz. Up to 64 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X was released in Q1/2017. The AMD Phenom II X4 970 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Phenom II X4 970 was released in Q3/2010.

AMD Ryzen 5 (85)	Family	AMD Phenom II (52)
AMD Ryzen 1000 (15)	CPU group	AMD Phenom II - 800/900 (23)
1	Generation	4
Summit Ridge (Zen)	Architecture	Deneb (K10)
Desktop / Server	Segment	Desktop / Server
--	Predecessor	--
--	Successor	--

CPU Cores and Base Frequency The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X is a 6 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.30 GHz (3.70 GHz). The AMD Phenom II X4 970 has 4 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.50 GHz.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	Characteristic	AMD Phenom II X4 970
6	Cores	4
12	Threads	4
normal	Core architecture	normal
Yes	Hyperthreading	No
Yes	Overclocking ?	Yes
3.30 GHz	Frequency	3.50 GHz
3.70 GHz	Turbo Frequency (1 Core)	--
3.50 GHz	Turbo Frequency (All Cores)	--

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 Ryzen 5 1600X	Characteristic	AMD Phenom II X4 970
--	AI hardware	--
--	AI specifications	--

Internal Graphics The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
no iGPU	GPU	no iGPU
	GPU frequency	--
--	GPU (Turbo)	--
--	GPU Generation	--
	Technology
	Max. displays
--	Compute units	--
--	Shader	--
No	Hardware Raytracing	No
No	Frame Generation	No
--	Max. GPU Memory	--
--	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	no iGPU
No	Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	No
No	Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	No
No	Codec h264	No
No	Codec VP9	No
No	Codec VP8	No
No	Codec AV1	No
No	Codec AVC	No
No	Codec VC-1	No
No	Codec JPEG	No

Memory & PCIe The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Phenom II X4 970 can connect up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	Characteristic	AMD Phenom II X4 970
DDR4-2666	Memory	DDR3-1333, DDR2-1066
64 GB	Max. Memory
2 (Dual Channel)	Memory channels	2 (Dual Channel)
42.7 GB/s	Max. Bandwidth	21.3 GB/s
Yes	ECC	No
--	L2 Cache	--
16.00 MB	L3 Cache	6.00 MB
3.0	PCIe version	--
20	PCIe lanes	--
19.7 GB/s	PCIe Bandwidth	--
Thermal Management The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X has a TDP of 95 W, that of the AMD Phenom II X4 970 is 125 W.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	Characteristic	AMD Phenom II X4 970
95 W	TDP (PL1 / PBP)	125 W
--	TDP (PL2)	--
--	TDP up	--
--	TDP down	--
95 °C	Tjunction max.	--
Technical details The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X has a 16.00 MB cache, while the AMD Phenom II X4 970 cache has a total of 6.00 MB.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	Characteristic	AMD Phenom II X4 970
14 nm	Technology	45 nm
Monolithic	Chip design	Unknown
x86-64 (64 bit)	Instruction set (ISA)	x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3	ISA extensions	SSE3, SSE4a
AM4 (PGA 1331)	Socket	AM3
AMD-V, SVM	Virtualization	AMD-V
Yes	AES-NI	No
Windows 10, Linux	Operating systems	Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2017	Release date	Q3/2010
245 $	Release price	--

show more data		show more data

AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.30 GHz (3.70 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save! AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz buy now on Amazon and save!

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks

AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (100%)

AMD Phenom II X4 970 (54%)

⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks

AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (100%)

AMD Phenom II X4 970 (31%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	950 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	439 (46%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	5220 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	1491 (29%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	13207 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	4361 (33%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	151 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	92 (61%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	1126 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	355 (32%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	59 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	411 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	942 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	6470 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	1167 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	5089 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.70 GHz	389 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 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 Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	2764 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.


	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	323.8 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.


	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz	415 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.


	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6C 12T @ 3.30 GHz	3367 (100%)
	AMD Phenom II X4 970 4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

Devices using this processor
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	AMD Phenom II X4 970
Unknown	Unknown

News and articles for the AMD Ryzen 5 1600X and the AMD Phenom II X4 970

The evolution of AMD Ryzen processors

Posted by Stefan on 2022-09-06

The AMD Ryzen processors are designed for the mid to high-end range and are grouped into the Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 classes. AMD follows the market leader Intel, which groups its Core i series (Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9) identically.

The AMD Ryzen processors were first introduced by AMD in Q1 2017. They are the successor to the not particularly successful AMD Bulldozer processors. The latter were manufactured using an outdated manufacturing process and could not keep up with the competing products from Intel. AMD lost a large portion of its desktop processor market share during this period.

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