Intel Core i7-6970HQ vs Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-6970HQ CPU1 vs CPU2 Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Core i7-6970HQ and the Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Core i7-6970HQ 4 core processor released in Q1/2016 with the Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) which has 4 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2023.
Intel Core i7 (298) Family AMD Ryzen 5 (86)
Intel Core i 6000H (15) CPU group AMD Sephiroth (Steam Deck Refresh 2023) (1)
6 Generation 4
Skylake H Architecture Sephiroth (Zen 2)
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Valve Steam Deck (AMD Custom APU 0405)
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-6970HQ is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.80 GHz (3.70 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) clocks with 2.40 GHz (3.50 GHz), has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Characteristic Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4 Cores 4
8 Threads 8
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
2.80 GHz Frequency 2.40 GHz
3.70 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.50 GHz
3.30 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 2.80 GHz

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Characteristic Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

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.

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 GPU AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Steam Deck)
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 1.00 GHz
1.05 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.60 GHz
9 GPU Generation --
14 nm Technology 7 nm
3 Max. displays 2
72 Compute units 8
576 Shader 512
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 8 GB
12.0 DirectX Version 12

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.

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 GPU AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Steam Deck)
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 64 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Intel Core i7-6970HQ, while the Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s enabled.

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Characteristic Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
DDR4-2133 Memory LPDDR5-6400
64 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
34.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 2.00 MB
8.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 3.0
20 PCIe lanes 8
19.7 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 7.9 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i7-6970HQ has a TDP of 45 W. The TDP of the Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Characteristic Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
45 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
35 W TDP down 4 W
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-6970HQ has 8.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 14 nm. The cache of Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) is at 6.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 6 nm.

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Characteristic Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
14 nm Technology 6 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3
BGA 1440 Socket FF3
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization AMD-V, SVM
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems SteamOS (Arch Linux)
Q1/2016 Release date Q4/2023
623 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-6970HQ to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (6 ratings). Rate now:


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 i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 580 @ 1.05 GHz
1210 (74%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Steam Deck) @ 1.60 GHz
1638 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz
57 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz
275 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz
975 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
4359 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz
1296 (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.
Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4C 8T @ 3.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh) Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
4C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
4510 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-6970HQ Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)
Unknown Valve Steam Deck (2023 Refresh)

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. AMD A6-9210Intel Core i7-6970HQ AMD A6-9210 vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
2. Intel Core m3-8100YIntel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core m3-8100Y vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
3. Intel Core i7-9750HIntel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-9750H vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
4. Intel Core i7-6970HQIntel Xeon Silver 4215R Intel Core i7-6970HQ vs Intel Xeon Silver 4215R
5. Intel Core i7-6970HQIntel Core i5-9600T Intel Core i7-6970HQ vs Intel Core i5-9600T
6. Intel Core i7-6700KIntel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-6700K vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
7. Intel Core i7-6970HQIntel Core i3-2328M Intel Core i7-6970HQ vs Intel Core i3-2328M
8. Intel Core i7-9850HIntel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i7-9850H vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
9. Intel Core i3-1005G1Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Core i3-1005G1 vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ
10. Intel Celeron G1850Intel Core i7-6970HQ Intel Celeron G1850 vs Intel Core i7-6970HQ


back to index