CPUBoss Review Our evaluation of 3220 vs 250 among desktop CPUs (45 to 75W)

Performance

Benchmark performance using all cores
Core i3 3220
8.3
Athlon II X2 250
4.5
Core2 Duo E8400
4.9
PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated, PassMark and 1 more

Single-core Performance

Individual core benchmark performance
Core i3 3220
6.9
Athlon II X2 250
3.8
Core2 Duo E8400
4.3
PassMark (Single Core), Geekbench 3 Single Core and 1 more

Integrated Graphics

Integrated GPU performance for graphics
Core i3 3220
n.d.
Athlon II X2 250
n.d.
Core2 Duo E8400
n.d.
Fire Strike

Integrated Graphics (OpenCL)

Integrated GPU performance for parallel computing
Core i3 3220
0.0
Athlon II X2 250
0.0
Core2 Duo E8400
0.0
CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 4 more

Performance per Watt

How efficiently does the processor use electricity?
Core i3 3220
5.7
Athlon II X2 250
3.4
Core2 Duo E8400
3.6
Fire Strike, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more

Value

Are you paying a premium for performance?
Core i3 3220
n.d.
Athlon II X2 250
n.d.
Core2 Duo E8400
n.d.
Fire Strike, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more
5.3

CPUBoss Score

Combination of all six facets
Core i3 3220
5.3
Athlon II X2 250
3.0
Core2 Duo E8400
3.3

Winner
Intel Core i3 3220 

CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i3 3220  based on its .

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VS

Intel Core i3 3220

Front view of Intel Core i3 3220
Front view of AMD Athlon II X2 250

AMD Athlon II X2 250

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Differences What are the advantages of each

Front view of Intel Core i3 3220

Reasons to consider the
Intel Core i3 3220

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Much more l3 cache 3 MB vs 0 MB Compared to all cpus, 3 MB l3 cache is just OK
Has a built-in GPU Yes vs No Somewhat common; A separate graphics adapter is not required
Higher clock speed 3.3 GHz vs 3 GHz Around 10% higher clock speed
More threads 4 vs 2 Twice as many threads
Much more l3 cache per core 1.5 MB/core vs 0 MB/core Compared to all cpus, 1.5 MB/core l3 cache per core is just OK
Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm vs 32 nm A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor
Lower typical power consumption 44.69W vs 52.81W More than 15% lower typical power consumption
Newer Sep, 2012 vs Jun, 2009 Release date over 3 years later
Lower annual home energy cost 13.25 $/year vs 15.66 $/year More than 15% lower annual home energy cost
Lower annual commercial energy cost 48.18 $/year vs 56.94 $/year More than 15% lower annual commercial energy cost
Front view of AMD Athlon II X2 250

Reasons to consider the
AMD Athlon II X2 250

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Much more l2 cache 2 MB vs 0.5 MB 4x more l2 cache; more data can be stored in the l2 cache for quick access later
Much more l2 cache per core 1 MB/core vs 0.25 MB/core 4x more l2 cache per core
Much higher Maximum operating temperature 74 °C vs 65.3 °C Around 15% higher Maximum operating temperature
Much better overclocked clock speed (Air) 3.72 GHz vs 3.43 GHz Around 10% better overclocked clock speed (Air)
Significantly better overclocked clock speed (Water) 4.04 GHz vs 3.46 GHz More than 15% better overclocked clock speed (Water)

Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i3 3220 vs Athlon II X2 250

GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i3 3220
5,399
Athlon II X2 250
2,814

GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i3 3220
2,501
Athlon II X2 250
1,524

GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i3 3220
173,000 MB/s
Athlon II X2 250
120,700 MB/s

GeekBench (32-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i3 3220
5,351
Athlon II X2 250
2,690

GeekBench (64-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i3 3220
5,707
Athlon II X2 250
2,929

GeekBench

Core i3 3220
8,919
Athlon II X2 250
4,461

PassMark Data courtesy Passmark

Core i3 3220
4,229
Athlon II X2 250
1,750

PassMark (Single Core)

Core i3 3220
1,764
Athlon II X2 250
1,008

Specifications Full list of technical specs

summary

 Core i3 3220  vs
Athlon II X2 250 
Clock speed 3.3 GHz 3 GHz
Cores Dual core Dual core
Socket type
LGA 1155
AM3
Is unlocked No No

features
Has a NX bit Yes Yes
Has virtualization support Yes Yes
Instruction set extensions
SSE4a
AVX 1.1
SSE2
F16C
MMX
SSE4
XOP
AVX
SSE3
SSE
BMI1
AMD64
SSE4.1
FMA4
FMA3
SSE4.2
ABM
CVT16
AMD-V
Supplemental SSE3
AES
TBM
Supports dynamic frequency scaling Yes Yes

power consumption
TDP 55W 65W
Annual home energy cost 13.25 $/year 15.66 $/year
Annual commercial energy cost 48.18 $/year 56.94 $/year
Performance per watt 2.69 pt/W 1.79 pt/W
Typical power consumption 44.69W 52.81W

details

 Core i3 3220  vs
Athlon II X2 250 
Architecture x86-64 x86-64
Threads 4 2
L2 cache 0.5 MB 2 MB
L2 cache per core 0.25 MB/core 1 MB/core
L3 cache 3 MB 0 MB
L3 cache per core 1.5 MB/core 0 MB/core
Manufacture process 22 nm 32 nm
Max CPUs 1 1
Operating temperature Unknown - 65.3°C Unknown - 74°C

overclocking
Overclock popularity 50 25
Overclocked clock speed 3.43 GHz 3.72 GHz
Overclocked clock speed (Water) 3.46 GHz 4.04 GHz
PassMark (Overclocked) 3,775.1 2,374.3
Overclocked clock speed (Air) 3.43 GHz 3.72 GHz

integrated graphics
GPU GPU None
Label Intel® HD Graphics 2500 N/A
Number of displays supported 3 N/A
GPU clock speed 650 MHz N/A
Turbo clock speed 1,050 MHz N/A
Intel Core i3 3220
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AMD Athlon II X2 250
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Comments

Showing 3 comments.
Chino Zamora (07:18 PM, February 28, 2016)
is this wrong? im pretty sure x2 250 doesnt support sse4.1.
Nate Pinkston (MC Survivalist) (05:31 AM, November 1, 2015)
Yea I have an athlon 250 and I've enjoyed using it.
Gaurav Chand (05:20 AM, September 15, 2015)
I think intel core i 3 speed is more but based on performance in gaming or in other tasks amd beats intel core i3 and its cheaper also and gives a good gaming performance
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