Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

Benchmarks for the Intel Core i7-3970X can be found below. Release dates, price and performance comparisons are also listed when available. This is made using thousands of PerformanceTest benchmark results and is updated daily.

The first graph shows the relative performance of the CPU compared to the 10 other common (single) CPUs in terms of PassMark CPU Mark.
The 2nd graph shows the value for money, in terms of the CPUMark per dollar.
The pricing history data shows the price for a single Processor. For multiple Processors, multiply the price shown by the number of CPUs.

Is the Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz Good for Gaming?

This is a fairly old CPU that is no longer competitive with newer CPUs. [More ...]

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Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

Description:

Class: Desktop

Socket: LGA2011

Clockspeed: 3.5 GHz

Turbo Speed: 4.0 GHz

Cores: 6 Threads: 12

Typical TDP: 150 W

Cache per CPU Package:
L1 Instruction Cache: 6 x 32 KB
L1 Data Cache: 6 x 32 KB
L2 Cache: 6 x 256 KB
L3 Cache: 15 MB

Other names: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3970X CPU @ 3.50GHz

CPU First Seen on Charts: Q1 2012

CPUmark/$Price: 49.07

Overall Rank:
1492nd fastest in multithreading out of 5157 CPUs
1883rd fastest in single threading out of 5157 CPUs
463rd fastest in out of 1449 Desktop CPUs

Last Price Change: $175.00 USD (2025-03-27)

Average CPU Mark rating

Multithread Rating

8588

Single Thread Rating

1857

Samples: 355*
*Margin for error: Low

PerformanceTest V9
CPU Mark: 12,716
Thread: 2,067

CPU Test Suite Average Results for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

Integer Math	32,755 MOps/Sec
Floating Point Math	12,727 MOps/Sec
Find Prime Numbers	43 Million Primes/Sec
Random String Sorting	21,389 Thousand Strings/Sec
Data Encryption	2,713 MBytes/Sec
Data Compression	146,365 KBytes/Sec
Physics	731 Frames/Sec
Extended Instructions	6,157 Million Matrices/Sec
Single Thread	1,857 MOps/Sec

From submitted results to PerformanceTest V10 as of 21st of June 2025.

CPU Mark Distribution for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

Submitted Baseline Distribution Graph as of 17th of June 2025

From submitted results since PerformanceTest V10 as of 17th of June 2025.
For distribution graph only: Results are trimmed to exclude outliers by disregarding the bottom 1% and top 1% of submissions.

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Pricing History

CPU Mark Relative to Top 10 Common Desktop CPUs
As of 22nd of June 2025 - Higher results represent better performance
Processor	Average CPU Mark
Intel Core i9-13900K		58,652
Intel Core i9-12900K		41,295
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X		39,015
Apple M1 Max 10 Core 3200 MHz		22,143
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X		21,861
Intel Core i5-12400F		19,487
Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.60GHz		18,164
AMD Ryzen 5 3600		17,704
Apple M2 8 Core 3500 MHz		15,652
Apple M1 8 Core 3200 MHz		14,146
Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz		8,588

CPU Value (CPU Mark / $Price )
As of 22nd of June 2025 - Higher results represent better value
Processor	CPU Mark / $Price
AMD Ryzen 5 3600		236.08
Intel Core i5-12400F		196.84
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X		162.57
Intel Core i9-13900K		152.34
Intel Core i9-12900K		136.17
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X		131.36
Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.60GHz		49.23
Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz		49.07
Apple M1 8 Core 3200 MHz		NA
Apple M2 8 Core 3500 MHz		NA
Apple M1 Max 10 Core 3200 MHz		NA

Single Thread Rating
As of 22nd of June 2025 - Higher results represent better performance
Processor	Average Thread Rating
Intel Core i9-13900K		4,610
Intel Core i9-12900K		4,138
Apple M2 8 Core 3500 MHz		3,900
Apple M1 Max 10 Core 3200 MHz		3,836
Apple M1 8 Core 3200 MHz		3,680
Intel Core i5-12400F		3,477
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X		3,469
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X		3,364
Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.60GHz		2,921
AMD Ryzen 5 3600		2,563
Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz		1,857

Last 5 Baselines for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz
Most recent listed first
Baseline	CPU Mark
BL2695870 - Jun 14 2025		8351
BL2515627 - Mar 29 2025		8995
BL2509842 - Mar 26 2025		9709
BL2509801 - Mar 26 2025		9542
BL2437438 - Feb 24 2025 [Overclocked]		9932

Additional baselines can be obtained using Windows version of PerformanceTest's Manage Baselines feature.

Popular comparisons for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz
As of 22nd of June 2025 - Higher results represent better performance
Processor	Average CPU Mark
Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz		8,588
Intel Core i7-3770K @ 3.50GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		6,480 (-24.5%)
Intel Core i7-5820K @ 3.30GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,834 (+14.5%)
Intel Core i7-990X @ 3.47GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		7,116 (-17.1%)
Intel Core i7-4770 @ 3.40GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		7,052 (-17.9%)
Intel Core i7-4820K @ 3.70GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		6,505 (-24.3%)
Intel Core i5-9600K @ 3.70GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		10,639 (+23.9%)
Intel Core i5-8600K @ 3.60GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		10,131 (+18.0%)
AMD Ryzen 3 4300G vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,745 (+13.5%)
Intel Core i5-10400T @ 2.00GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,739 (+13.4%)
Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.20GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,628 (+12.1%)
Intel Core i7-4930K @ 3.40GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,396 (+9.4%)
Intel Core i5-8400 @ 2.80GHz vs Intel Core i7-3970X		9,226 (+7.4%)

Is the Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz Good for Gaming?
As of 22nd of June 2025 - Higher results represent better performance
Processor	Relative Gaming Score
AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D		12,452
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D		12,150
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D		11,297
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D		10,843
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K		10,586
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D		10,483
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D		10,276
AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D		9,809
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D		9,803
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K		9,639
Intel Core Ultra 7 265K		9,526
Intel Core Ultra 9 285		9,517
Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz		1,681

CPU Benchmarks

CPU Benchmarks

Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

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CPU Test Suite Average Results for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

CPU Mark Distribution for Intel Core i7-3970X @ 3.50GHz

Pricing History