Intel Core i7-870 vs Intel Core i7-960

Core i7-870 vs Core i7-960 specs and performance

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i7-960 performs better than the Core i7-870. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i7-870 in all gaming tests too.

Info from our database shows that they both have the same core count and the same number of threads. These CPUs have different clock speeds. Indeed, the Core i7-960 has a slightly higher clock speed compared to the Core i7-870. Despite this, the Core i7-870 has a slightly higher turbo speed. A Core i7-870 CPU outputs less heat than a Core i7-960 CPU because of its slightly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption.

Most CPUs have more threads than cores. This technology, colloquially called hyperthreading, improves performance by splitting a core into multiple virtual ones. This provides more efficient utilisation of a core. Indeed, the Core i7-870 has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.