Intel Core i7-3970X vs AMD A6-5357M

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-3970X CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD A6-5357M
Intel Core i7-3970X AMD A6-5357M

CPU comparison

Intel Core i7-3970X or AMD A6-5357M - 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 Intel Core i7-3970X has 6 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.00 GHz. Up to 64 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-3970X was released in Q4/2012.

The AMD A6-5357M has 2 cores with 2 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 A6-5357M was released in Q2/2013.
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition (24) Family AMD A (112)
Intel Core i 3000X (4) CPU group AMD A6-5000M (2)
3 Generation 3
Sandy Bridge E Architecture Richland (Piledriver)
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-3970X has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-3970X is 3.50 GHz (4.00 GHz) while the AMD A6-5357M has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the AMD A6-5357M is at 2.90 GHz (3.50 GHz).

Intel Core i7-3970X Characteristic AMD A6-5357M
6 Cores 2
12 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
3.50 GHz Frequency 2.90 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.50 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 3.50 GHz

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.

Intel Core i7-3970X Characteristic AMD A6-5357M
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i7-3970X or AMD A6-5357M has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

no iGPU GPU AMD Radeon HD 8450G
GPU frequency 0.53 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 0.72 GHz
-- GPU Generation 5
Technology 32 nm
Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 3
-- Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 11

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 AMD Radeon HD 8450G
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
No Codec h264 Decode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i7-3970X can use up to 64 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s. The AMD A6-5357M supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.

Intel Core i7-3970X Characteristic AMD A6-5357M
DDR3-1600 Memory DDR3-1600
64 GB Max. Memory
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
15.00 MB L3 Cache 1.00 MB
2.0 PCIe version --
40 PCIe lanes --
20.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i7-3970X is 150 W, while the AMD A6-5357M has a TDP of 35 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i7-3970X Characteristic AMD A6-5357M
150 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 35 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-3970X is manufactured in 32 nm and has 15.00 MB cache. The AMD A6-5357M is manufactured in 32 nm and has a 1.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i7-3970X Characteristic AMD A6-5357M
32 nm Technology 32 nm
Monolithic Chip design Unknown
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4
LGA 2011 Socket FPr2
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d (C2 Stepping) Virtualization AMD-V
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems
Q4/2012 Release date Q2/2013
820 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
812 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
401 (49%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
4981 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
634 (13%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
8517 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
1878 (22%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
742 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
3512 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
AMD Radeon HD 8450G @ 0.72 GHz
276 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 3.50 GHz
2623 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 2.90 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
135 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i7-3970X Intel Core i7-3970X
6C 12T @ 4.00 GHz
1065 (100%)
AMD A6-5357M AMD A6-5357M
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-3970X AMD A6-5357M
Unknown Unknown

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