AMD Phenom II X4 965 vs Athlon II X2 250 |
Released November, 2009
AMD Phenom II X4 965
- 3.4 GHz
- Quad core
- Unlocked
Reasons to buy the AMD Phenom II X4 965
 | Much more l3 cache 6 MB | | Is unlocked Yes |
| | Significantly higher clock speed 3.4 GHz | | More cores 4 |
VS
Released June, 2009
AMD Athlon II X2 250
- 3 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the Athlon II X2 250
| | Much lower typical power consumption 52.81W | | Much newer manufacturing process 32 nm |
| | Much better performance per watt 1.79 pt/W | | Much more l2 cache per core 1 MB/core |
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
VS
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much more l3 cache | 6 MB | vs | 0 MB | Compared to all cpus, 6 MB l3 cache is just OK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Is unlocked | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; An unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking | |||
| Significantly higher clock speed | 3.4 GHz | vs | 3 GHz | Around 15% higher clock speed | |||
| More cores | 4 | vs | 2 | Twice as many cores; run more applications at once | |||
| More threads | 4 | vs | 2 | Twice as many threads | |||
| Much more l3 cache per core | 1.5 MB/core | vs | 0 MB/core | Compared to all cpus, 1.5 MB/core l3 cache per core is just OK | |||
| Much better overclocked clock speed (Air) | 4.05 GHz | vs | 3.72 GHz | Around 10% better overclocked clock speed (Air) | |||
| Better overclocked clock speed (Water) | 4.22 GHz | vs | 4.04 GHz | Around 5% better overclocked clock speed (Water) | |||
| |||||||
| Much lower typical power consumption | 52.81W | vs | 152.93W | 2.9x lower typical power consumption | |||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 32 nm | vs | 45 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
| Much better performance per watt | 1.79 pt/W | vs | 1.08 pt/W | More than 65% better performance per watt | |||
| Much more l2 cache per core | 1 MB/core | vs | 0.5 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| Much higher Maximum operating temperature | 74 °C | vs | 62 °C | Around 20% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
| Much lower annual home energy cost | 15.66 $/year | vs | 54.06 $/year | 3.5x lower annual home energy cost | |||
| Much lower annual commercial energy cost | 56.94 $/year | vs | 152.42 $/year | 2.7x lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Phenom II X4 965 vs Athlon II X2 250
GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench (32-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench (64-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
PassMark (Single Core)
Reviews Word on the street
| Phenom II X4 965 | vs | Athlon II X2 250 | ||
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
Overall | Out of 10 | Out of 10 | ||
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Phenom II X4 965 | vs | Athlon II X2 250 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 3.4 GHz | 3 GHz | |
| Turbo clock speed | 0 GHz | 3.6 GHz | |
| Cores | Quad core | Dual core | |
| Socket type | |||
| AM3 | |||
| Is unlocked | Yes | No | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE4a | |||
| AVX 1.1 | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| F16C | |||
| MMX | |||
| XOP | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| SSE | |||
| BMI1 | |||
| AMD64 | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| FMA4 | |||
| FMA3 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| ABM | |||
| CVT16 | |||
| AMD-V | |||
| 3DNow! | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| AES | |||
| TBM | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 140W | 65W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 54.06 $/year | 15.66 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 152.42 $/year | 56.94 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 1.08 pt/W | 1.79 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 152.93W | 52.81W | |
bus | |||
| Clock speed | 2,000 MHz | 2,000 MHz | |
details | Phenom II X4 965 | vs | Athlon II X2 250 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | |
| Threads | 4 | 2 | |
| L2 cache | 2 MB | 2 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | 1 MB/core | |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | 0 MB | |
| L3 cache per core | 1.5 MB/core | 0 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 45 nm | 32 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
| Voltage range | 0.85 - 1.43V | 0.85 - 1.43V | |
| Operating temperature | Unknown - 62°C | Unknown - 74°C | |
overclocking | |||
| Overclock popularity | 22 | 25 | |
| Overclocked clock speed | 4.05 GHz | 3.72 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 4.22 GHz | 4.04 GHz | |
| PassMark (Overclocked) | 3,136.7 | 2,374.3 | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 4.05 GHz | 3.72 GHz | |
integrated graphics | |||
| GPU | None | None | |
| Label | N/A | N/A | |
| Latest DirectX | N/A | N/A | |
| Number of displays supported | N/A | N/A | |
| GPU clock speed | N/A | N/A | |
| Turbo clock speed | N/A | N/A | |
| 3DMark06 | N/A | N/A | |
 AMD Phenom II X4 965  Report a correction |  AMD Athlon II X2 250 Report a correction |
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