AMD Athlon X4 970 vs Intel Core i9-9940X Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the core counts compare between these two processors?

A: The AMD Athlon X4 970 has 4 cores and 4 threads, while the Intel Core i9-9940X has 14 cores and 28 threads. That is a 10-core and 24-thread difference in favor of the Intel part.

Q: Which processor has a higher boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i9-9940X boosts to 4.50 GHz, while the AMD Athlon X4 970 boosts to 4.00 GHz. However, the Athlon has a higher base clock at 3.80 GHz compared to 3.30 GHz for the Intel.

Q: What is the performance gap in Cinebench R23 multi-core?

A: The Intel Core i9-9940X scores 23810 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, while the AMD Athlon X4 970 scores 3081. The Intel part leads by 87.1% in this test, which is the same delta seen across the other Cinebench head-to-head benchmarks.

Q: Do both processors support ECC memory?

A: No. Neither the AMD Athlon X4 970 nor the Intel Core i9-9940X supports ECC memory according to the database.

Q: Which processor has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Athlon X4 970 has an average benchmark score of 6850, while the Intel Core i9-9940X has an average score of 6657. Despite the Intel part winning every head-to-head benchmark, the Athlon actually holds a higher overall average in the database.

Q: What is the production status of each chip?

A: The AMD Athlon X4 970 is listed as Active, while the Intel Core i9-9940X is listed as End-of-life.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Athlon X4 970 uses the Excavator architecture, specifically the Bristol Ridge codename, built on a 28 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It integrates 3,100 million transistors on a 250 mm² die. The Intel Core i9-9940X, by contrast, uses the Skylake architecture with the Skylake-X codename, built on Intel's 14 nm process with a 484 mm² die size. The transistor count for the Intel part is not recorded in the database.

Cache hierarchies are fundamentally different. The Athlon X4 970 has 320 KB of L1 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache, with no L3 cache listed. The Core i9-9940X reports L1 cache as 64 KB per core and L2 as 1 MB per core, plus a shared 19.25 MB L3 cache. The Intel chip's per-core L2 design scales with its 14 cores, while the AMD part uses a fixed 2 MB L2.

Memory support also diverges. Both support DDR4, but the Athlon uses a dual-channel memory bus with 38.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the Core i9-9940X uses a quad-channel bus with 85.3 GB/s bandwidth. PCIe connectivity is another major split: the AMD processor provides 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes (CPU only), whereas the Intel part provides 44 PCIe Gen 3 lanes (CPU only).

The socket and platform differ entirely. The Athlon X4 970 fits AMD Socket AM4, while the Core i9-9940X uses Intel Socket 2066. The Intel part has an unlocked multiplier; the AMD part does not. The Core i9-9940X belongs to the Core i9 X-Series 9th Gen lineup, while the Athlon X4 970 is in the Athlon (Bristol Ridge) generation. Neither chip includes integrated graphics.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are entirely one-sided, with the Intel Core i9-9940X winning all five recorded comparisons. The consistent delta of -87.1% in favor of the Intel part appears across every Cinebench test in the database.

In Cinebench R15 multi-core, the Athlon X4 970 scores 310 against 2400 for the Core i9-9940X. That is a massive margin driven by the Intel part's 14 cores and 28 threads versus the AMD part's 4 cores and 4 threads. The same pattern holds in Cinebench R20 multi-core, where the AMD scores 1294 and the Intel scores 10000. In Cinebench R23 multi-core, the gap persists: 3081 for the Athlon versus 23810 for the Core i9-9940X.

Even in single-core tests, the Intel part dominates. Cinebench R20 single-core shows 182 for the AMD and 1411 for the Intel. Cinebench R23 single-core shows 435 for the AMD and 3361 for the Intel. The delta remains -87.1% even in these single-threaded workloads, which indicates that per-core performance from the Skylake-X architecture is far ahead of the Excavator design. The AMD's higher base clock of 3.80 GHz does not compensate for the architectural deficit.

The database does not record any benchmark wins for the AMD Athlon X4 970 in the head-to-head set. Every recorded test, from R15 to R23, favors the Intel Core i9-9940X by the same proportional margin. The Intel part's average benchmark score of 6657 is actually lower than the AMD's 6850, which is a quirk of the different benchmark sets used for each chip, but the head-to-head data is unambiguous about workload performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Athlon X4 970 | Intel Core i9-9940X |

|---|---|---|

| Cores | 4 | 14 |

| Threads | 4 | 28 |

| Base clock | 3.80 GHz | 3.30 GHz |

| Boost clock | 4.00 GHz | 4.50 GHz |

| TDP | 65 W | 165 W |

| Socket | AMD Socket AM4 | Intel Socket 2066 |

| Architecture | Excavator | Skylake |

| Codename | Bristol Ridge | Skylake-X |

| Process node | 28 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | Intel |

| Die size | 250 mm² | 484 mm² |

| Transistors | 3,100 million | Not recorded |

| L1 cache | 320 KB | 64 KB per core |

| L2 cache | 2 MB | 1 MB per core |

| L3 cache | None | 19.25 MB shared |

| Memory bus | Dual-channel | Quad-channel |

| Memory bandwidth | 38.4 GB/s | 85.3 GB/s |

| PCIe | Gen 3, 8 lanes | Gen 3, 44 lanes |

| Multiplier unlocked | No | Yes |

| Production status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release date | 2017-07-26 | 2018-10-18 |

| Launch MSRP | Not recorded | $1387 |

| Part number | AD970XAUABBOXAD970XAUM44AB | SREZ5 |

The TDP difference is notable: 65 W for the AMD versus 165 W for the Intel. That reflects the Intel part's larger core count and higher boost clock. The AMD part has a higher base clock by 0.50 GHz, but the Intel part boosts 0.50 GHz higher. Memory bandwidth is more than double on the Intel side, and the PCIe lane count is 5.5 times higher.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Core i9-9940X wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, so the use-case split is straightforward for measured workloads. In multi-threaded rendering tasks like Cinebench R15, R20, and R23, the 14-core, 28-thread configuration delivers scores that are roughly 7.7 times higher than the Athlon X4 970 in multi-core tests. Anyone running CPU-bound rendering, video encoding, or heavy parallel compute would clearly favor the Intel part.

The Intel chip also wins single-core tests by the same -87.1% delta, which means even lightly threaded applications see a major advantage. The Skylake-X architecture's higher boost clock of 4.50 GHz and superior per-core IPC over Excavator make it the stronger choice for general desktop responsiveness, despite the AMD part's higher base clock.

The AMD Athlon X4 970, however, has advantages outside raw performance. Its 65 W TDP is 100 W lower than the Intel part, making it far easier to cool and less demanding on power delivery. The AM4 socket platform is also current and the chip remains in Active production status, while the Intel part is End-of-life. For a basic desktop build prioritizing low power draw and an active platform, the Athlon X4 970 has practical appeal, but the database shows no benchmark scenario where it outperforms the Core i9-9940X.

The average benchmark score quirk deserves mention: the Athlon X4 970 records a 6850 average versus 6657 for the Core i9-9940X, with the AMD part ranking at the 63rd percentile versus 62nd for the Intel part. This happens because the AMD chip's benchmark set includes many PassMark tests where it scores relatively well, while the Intel part's set is weighted toward heavier workloads. The nearest rivals confirm the positioning: the Athlon X4 970 sits within 0.7% of the Intel Xeon Gold 6154 and Intel Xeon W-2195, while the Core i9-9940X trades within 0.7% of the AMD EPYC 72F3 and Intel Core i9-12900E. In head-to-head competition, though, the Intel part is the clear winner across every recorded test.