Intel Core i5 2500 vs i3 3240 |
Released January, 2011
Intel Core i5 2500
- 3.3 GHz
- Quad core
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i5 2500
 | Much better turbo clock speed 1,100 MHz | | More cores 4 |
| | Supports trusted computing Yes | | Much higher Maximum operating temperature 72.6 °C |
VS
Released September, 2012
Intel Core i3 3240
- 3.4 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the i3 3240
| | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm | | Much lower typical power consumption 44.69W |
| | Much more l2 cache per core 0.5 MB/core | | More number of displays supported 3 |
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VS
Intel Core i5 2500CPUBoss Winner |  | |
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much better turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | vs | 1,050 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More cores | 4 | vs | 2 | Twice as many cores; run more applications at once | |||
| Supports trusted computing | Yes | vs | No | Somewhat common; Allows for safer, more reliable computing | |||
| Much higher Maximum operating temperature | 72.6 °C | vs | 65.3 °C | More than 10% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
| Significantly better overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.7 GHz | vs | 3.5 GHz | More than 5% better overclocked clock speed (Air) | |||
| Much better overclocked clock speed (Water) | 4.21 GHz | vs | 3.5 GHz | More than 20% better overclocked clock speed (Water) | |||
| |||||||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 22 nm | vs | 32 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
| Much lower typical power consumption | 44.69W | vs | 77.19W | More than 40% lower typical power consumption | |||
| Much more l2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | vs | 0.25 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| More number of displays supported | 3 | vs | 2 | 1 more number of displays supported | |||
| Higher clock speed | 3.4 GHz | vs | 3.3 GHz | Around 5% higher clock speed | |||
| Much lower annual home energy cost | 13.25 $/year | vs | 22.89 $/year | More than 40% lower annual home energy cost | |||
| Much lower annual commercial energy cost | 48.18 $/year | vs | 83.22 $/year | More than 40% lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
| Newer | Sep, 2012 | vs | Jan, 2011 | Release date over 1 years later | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i5 2500 vs i3 3240
PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated Data courtesy FutureMark
GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench (32-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench (64-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
PassMark (Single Core)
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Core i5 2500 | vs | i3 3240 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 3.4 GHz | |
| Cores | Quad core | Dual core | |
| Socket type | |||
| LGA 1155 | |||
| Is unlocked | No | No | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Supports trusted computing | Yes | No | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| MMX | |||
| SSE4 | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| AES | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 95W | 55W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 22.89 $/year | 13.25 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 83.22 $/year | 48.18 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 9.04 pt/W | 2.67 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 77.19W | 44.69W | |
bus | |||
| Architecture | DMI | DMI | |
| Number of links | 1 | 1 | |
| Transfer rate | 5,000 MT/s | 5,000 MT/s | |
details | Core i5 2500 | vs | i3 3240 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | |
| Threads | 4 | 4 | |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 1 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.25 MB/core | 0.5 MB/core | |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | 3 MB | |
| L3 cache per core | 1.5 MB/core | 1.5 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 32 nm | 22 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
| Clock multiplier | 33 | 34 | |
| Operating temperature | Unknown - 72.6°C | Unknown - 65.3°C | |
overclocking | |||
| Overclock popularity | 57 | 1 | |
| Overclocked clock speed | 3.7 GHz | 3.5 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 4.21 GHz | 3.5 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.7 GHz | 3.5 GHz | |
integrated graphics | |||
| GPU | GPU | GPU | |
| Label | Intel® HD Graphics 2000 | Intel® HD Graphics 2500 | |
| Number of displays supported | 2 | 3 | |
| GPU clock speed | 850 MHz | 650 MHz | |
| Turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | 1,050 MHz | |
memory controller | |||
| Memory controller | Built-in | Built-in | |
| Memory type | |||
| DDR3-1600 | |||
| DDR3-1333 | |||
| DDR3-1066 | |||
| DDR3 | |||
| Channels | Dual Channel | Dual Channel | |
| Supports ECC | No | No | |
| Maximum bandwidth | 21,333.32 MB/s | 25,600 MB/s | |
| Maximum memory size | 32,768 MB | 32,768 MB | |
 Intel Core i5 2500  Report a correction |  Intel Core i3 3240 Report a correction |
Desktops
Looking for a desktop?
- 4 desktops with the Intel Core i5 2500, starting from $279
- 2 desktops with the Intel Core i3 3240, starting from $289
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