AMD Athlon X4 970 vs Intel Core i9-9990XE Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark gap between the Intel Core i9-9990XE and the AMD Athlon X4 970 is extreme, with the Intel part winning all five recorded head-to-head comparisons. The largest margin appears in Cinebench R15 multi-core, where the i9-9990XE scores 2,584 versus 310 for the Athlon X4 970, a 733.5% advantage. That pattern holds across every rendering workload in the database.

In Cinebench R20 multi-core, the Intel chip posts 10,767 points against the AMD processor's 1,294, a 732.1% delta. The single-core gap is even more pronounced in percentage terms: the i9-9990XE delivers 1,519 in Cinebench R20 single-core versus 182 for the Athlon, a 734.6% lead. Cinebench R23 shows similar proportionality, with the Intel part scoring 25,637 multi-core and 3,619 single-core, while the AMD chip manages 3,081 and 435 respectively, both around a 732% difference.

What stands out is the consistency of the margins. Whether the workload is single-threaded or multi-threaded, the delta stays near 730%, which indicates the i9-9990XE's advantage comes from fundamental architectural superiority rather than workload-specific optimizations. The Athlon X4 970's best result relative to the Intel part is in Cinebench R23 single-core, where it still trails by 732%. There is no scenario in the recorded data where the AMD processor closes the gap meaningfully.

The average benchmark scores tell a similar story from a different angle. The i9-9990XE has an average score of 7,415, placing it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i5-4570 and 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-9980XE in the database's nearest rival rankings. The Athlon X4 970 averages 6,850, sitting exactly level with the Intel Core i3-1115G4 and AMD Athlon Silver 10. Both processors occupy the 63rd percentile among all CPUs, but that percentile masks the enormous spread between their best and worst recorded results.

Architecture Differences

The two processors come from completely different design philosophies. The Intel Core i9-9990XE is built on a 14 nm process at Intel's foundry, using the Skylake architecture in its Skylake-X form. It packs 14 cores and 28 threads, a configuration designed for heavily parallel workloads. The AMD Athlon X4 970 uses GlobalFoundries' 28 nm process with the Excavator architecture, specifically the Bristol Ridge design, and offers just 4 cores and 4 threads with no simultaneous multithreading.

Cache hierarchies diverge sharply. The Intel chip provides 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 19.25 MB of shared L3 cache. The AMD processor has 320 KB of L1 total, 2 MB of L2, and no L3 cache at all. That missing L3 is a significant handicap in modern workloads that rely on large working sets. The Intel part's 19.25 MB shared pool gives it a massive staging area for data, while the Athlon must constantly fetch from system memory.

Memory subsystems also differ in scope. The i9-9990XE supports quad-channel DDR4 with a memory bandwidth rating of 85.3 GB/s. The Athlon X4 970 uses dual-channel DDR4 with 38.4 GB/s of bandwidth. In memory-intensive applications, the Intel processor can move more than twice as much data per second, which compounds its core-count advantage.

PCIe connectivity follows the same pattern. The Intel part exposes 44 PCIe Gen 3 lanes from the CPU, while the AMD chip provides 8 Gen 3 lanes. That difference matters for expandability: the i9-9990XE can drive multiple graphics cards and NVMe storage devices simultaneously, whereas the Athlon is limited to basic configurations. Neither processor includes integrated graphics, so both require a discrete GPU.

The process technology gap is substantial: 14 nm versus 28 nm. That translates directly into transistor density and power efficiency. The AMD chip is fabricated at a larger node with 3,100 million transistors on a 250 mm² die. The Intel part's transistor count and die size are not recorded in the database, but the 14 nm process allows far more logic per area. The Athlon's Excavator architecture is a legacy design, while Skylake-X represents Intel's high-end desktop push with unlocked multipliers and extreme core counts.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Core i9-9990XE wins everywhere in the recorded benchmarks. Its 14 cores and 28 threads dominate multi-threaded rendering, as evidenced by the Cinebench R15, R20, and R23 multi-core results. The 733.5% lead in R15 multi-core and 732.1% leads in R20 and R23 multi-core show that any workload scaling across cores will favor the Intel part overwhelmingly. Content creation, 3D rendering, video encoding, and scientific computing all fall into this category.

The Athlon X4 970 does have a niche in the database's PassMark results, though those tests were not part of the head-to-head comparison. It scores 62,454 in data compression, 1,146 in data encryption, 2,156 in extended instructions, and 19,174 in integer math. These are not competitive numbers against the i9-9990XE, but they do indicate the Athlon handles basic productivity tasks at a functional level. Its single-thread PassMark score of 1,658 and multithread score of 3,625 show it can manage everyday computing, just at a vastly lower performance tier.

For users who need massive parallel throughput, the i9-9990XE is the clear choice. The 28 threads and 85.3 GB/s memory bandwidth make it suitable for heavy workstation loads. The Athlon X4 970, with its 65 W TDP and 4 cores, is better suited for low-power builds where the workload is light and the priority is efficiency rather than peak performance. The Intel part's 255 W TDP is a stark trade-off: it delivers roughly eight times the multi-core performance but consumes nearly four times the power budget.

In single-threaded tasks, the i9-9990XE still leads by a wide margin. Its boost clock of 5.10 GHz compared to the Athlon's 4.00 GHz boost gives it a 27.5% clock advantage, and the Cinebench single-core scores reflect that. The Intel chip's 3,619 in R23 single-core versus 435 for the AMD part shows that even without multi-core scaling, the architectural superiority dominates.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet highlights the chasm between these two CPUs. The i9-9990XE has 14 cores and 28 threads; the Athlon X4 970 has 4 cores and 4 threads. Base clocks are 4.00 GHz for Intel and 3.80 GHz for AMD, while boost clocks are 5.10 GHz and 4.00 GHz respectively. Thermal design power differs enormously: 255 W for the Intel chip versus 65 W for the AMD chip.

Sockets are incompatible: Intel Socket 2066 for the i9-9990XE, AMD Socket AM4 for the Athlon. The process nodes are 14 nm and 28 nm, with the AMD chip carrying a transistor count of 3,100 million and a die size of 250 mm², figures not recorded for the Intel part. Cache configurations are entirely different: the Intel processor has 64 KB L1 per core and 1 MB L2 per core plus 19.25 MB shared L3, while the AMD chip has 320 KB L1 total and 2 MB L2 with no L3.

Memory channels are quad-channel versus dual-channel, yielding bandwidth ratings of 85.3 GB/s and 38.4 GB/s. PCIe lane counts are 44 versus 8, both Gen 3. Neither supports ECC memory. The Intel part has an unlocked multiplier; the AMD chip does not. Production status also differs: the i9-9990XE is end-of-life, while the Athlon X4 970 remains active. The Intel chip's launch MSRP was $2800. Release dates are October 2018 for Intel and July 2017 for AMD.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the Intel Core i9-9990XE in multi-core rendering?

A: In Cinebench R15 multi-core, the Intel chip scores 2,584 versus 310 for the Athlon X4 970, a 733.5% advantage. In R20 and R23 multi-core, the margins are 732.1% in both cases.

Q: Does the AMD Athlon X4 970 win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. The database records five head-to-head comparisons, and the Intel Core i9-9990XE wins all five. The AMD processor records zero wins.

Q: What is the single-core performance difference?

A: In Cinebench R20 single-core, the i9-9990XE scores 1,519 against 182 for the Athlon, a 734.6% lead. In R23 single-core, the scores are 3,619 and 435, a 732% difference.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare to nearby CPUs?

A: The i9-9990XE averages 7,415, within 0.1% of the Intel Core i5-4570 and 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-9980XE. The Athlon X4 970 averages 6,850, level with the Intel Core i3-1115G4 and AMD Athlon Silver 10.

Q: What are the core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i9-9990XE has 14 cores and 28 threads. The AMD Athlon X4 970 has 4 cores and 4 threads.

Q: Which processor has more memory bandwidth?

A: The i9-9990XE supports quad-channel memory with 85.3 GB/s bandwidth. The Athlon X4 970 uses dual-channel memory with 38.4 GB/s.