15 specifications

Intel Core i5-750 vs AMD FX-4100

On paper, the AMD FX-4100 boosts higher. Specifications describe what each chip is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 2 with a higher side

Full specifications

Intel Core i5-750

Intel · Intel · Desktop

Full specifications

AMD FX-4100

AMD · FX · Desktop

Cores and clocks

Cores

Threads

Base clock

2.7 GHz

3.6 GHz

Boost clock

3.2 GHz

3.8 GHz

Cache and power

L3 cache

8 MB

TDP

95 W

Platform

Socket

LGA1156

AM3+

Process

45 nm

32 nm

Integrated graphics

Not verified

Launched

Q3'09 (quarter)

Not verified

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

Boost clock

The FX-4100 boosts to 3.8 GHz against 3.2 GHz, 19 percent higher. Across generations it is not a guide to speed on its own, for the reason above. Boost is also a peak: it is held for seconds to minutes, on one or two cores, while the cooling and the power limit allow. What either chip settles at under a long load is lower, and it depends on the cooler and the motherboard as much as the chip.

Power and cooling

Both are rated at 95 W, so they ask the same of a cooler and a power supply. The rating is the heat to be moved for the chip to hold its speed; both draw above it in short bursts, and either one slows down rather than fails when the cooling falls short.

Platform

They use different sockets, LGA1156 and AM3+, so moving from one to the other means a new motherboard. For an upgrade, that cost belongs in the comparison; for a new build, the newer platform is the one with later chips still to come.

Manufacturing process

The FX-4100 is built on a 32 nm process against 45 nm. A finer process generally does the same work for less power. The names are marketing labels rather than measurements, though, and they are not comparable between manufacturers, so treat the row as a sign of how recent the design is and no more.

What no table says

How much of its speed a processor keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

Free CPU stress test

Questions

Is the Core i5-750 better than the FX-4100?: On the specifications they are closely matched. No specification says how much speed either one keeps under a long load; that depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in, and it is what a sustained test measures.
Do the Core i5-750 and the FX-4100 use the same socket?: No. The Core i5-750 uses LGA1156 and the FX-4100 uses AM3+, so switching means a new motherboard.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a processor behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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