Intel Core i5 4200U vs 3230M

older Released July, 2013

Reasons to buy the Intel Core i5 4200U

	Much lower typical power consumption 12.19W		Better CompuBench 1.5 T-Rex score 1.18 fps
	Better geekbench 3 AES single core score 3,015,000 MB/s		Better performance per watt 40.19 pt/W

older Released January, 2013

Reasons to buy the 3230M

	Much higher clock speed 2.6 GHz		Much higher turbo clock speed 3.2 GHz
	Much higher GPU clock speed 650 MHz		Supports more RAM 32,768 MB

The Intel Core i5 4200U versus the Intel Core i5 3230M asks the question, “Is the 4th generation of Core processors worth the upgrade?” Let’s take a closer look at these dual core processors and see which comes out on top.

Here we have two laptop processors which are geared towards different purposes. The newer 4200U is designed for Ultraportables, and because of this flexibility, it comes in at an underclocked 1.6 GHz. Thankfully, it packs a higher model HD 4400 GPU while still managing to keep power consumption low at 35W.

In stark contrast is the 3230M, geared for more performance in laptops. It clocks in at 2.6 GHz, an HD 4000 GPU, and a standard 35W TDP. It should be noted that these two CPUs are hyperthreaded, which results to better core efficiency.

Onto the results: it’s surprising that these CPUs are neck and neck in terms of single core performance, with merely a hundred points separating them in the PassMark benchmark. As for other benchmarks, the bulkier 3230M is consistently faster at around 500 points.

Overall, the Intel Core i5 3230M comes out on top when comparing from a purely performance standpoint. However, if you're looking towards a power efficient and portable laptop, don't look further than the Intel Core i5 4200U.

	Performance
	Benchmark performance using all cores
Core i5 4200U 6.6 Core i5 3230M 6.9 A8 5550M 6.5
PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated, PassMark and 1 more

	Single-core Performance
	Individual core benchmark performance
Core i5 4200U 8.0 Core i5 3230M 7.9 A8 5550M 6.7
PassMark (Single Core), Geekbench 3 Single Core and 1 more

	Integrated Graphics
	Integrated GPU performance for graphics
Core i5 4200U 6.7 Core i5 3230M 6.1 A8 5550M 6.1
Sky Diver and Cloud Gate

	Integrated Graphics (OpenCL)
	Integrated GPU performance for parallel computing
Core i5 4200U 7.8 Core i5 3230M 7.0 A8 5550M 7.4
CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 4 more

	Performance per Watt
	How efficiently does the processor use electricity?
Core i5 4200U 5.7 Core i5 3230M 5.1 A8 5550M 5.1
Sky Diver, Cloud Gate, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more

	Value
	Are you paying a premium for performance?
Core i5 4200U 5.3 Core i5 3230M n.d. A8 5550M 5.4
Sky Diver, Cloud Gate, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more

7.1	CPUBoss Score
	Combination of all six facets
Core i5 4200U 7.1 Core i5 3230M 6.9 A8 5550M 6.5

Winner
Intel Core i5 4200U

CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i5 4200U based on its power consumption.

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Reasons to consider the
Intel Core i5 4200U

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Much lower typical power consumption

12.19W

28.44W

2.3x lower typical power consumption

Better CompuBench 1.5 T-Rex score

1.18 fps

0.97 fps

More than 20% better CompuBench 1.5 T-Rex score

Better geekbench 3 AES single core score

3,015,000 MB/s

2,110,000 MB/s

Around 45% better geekbench 3 AES single core score

Better performance per watt

40.19 pt/W

13.35 pt/W

More than 3x better performance per watt

Better cloud gate score

4,370

4,075

More than 5% better cloud gate score

Much lower annual home energy cost

3.61 $/year

8.43 $/year

2.3x lower annual home energy cost

Newer

Jul, 2013

Jan, 2013

Release date 5 months later

Reasons to consider the
Intel Core i5 3230M

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Much higher clock speed

2.6 GHz

1.6 GHz

Around 65% higher clock speed

Much higher turbo clock speed

3.2 GHz

2.6 GHz

Around 25% higher turbo clock speed

Much higher GPU clock speed

650 MHz

200 MHz

3.2x higher GPU clock speed

Supports more RAM

32,768 MB

16,384 MB

Supports 2x more RAM

Much higher Maximum operating temperature

105 °C

100 °C

5% higher Maximum operating temperature

Significantly better 3DMark06 CPU score

3,760

2,450

Around 55% better 3DMark06 CPU score

Better turbo clock speed

1,100 MHz

1,000 MHz

10% better turbo clock speed

Better PassMark score

3,989

3,274

More than 20% better PassMark score

CompuBench 1.5 (Bitcoin mining) Data courtesy CompuBench

Core i5 4200U

11.53 mHash/s

Core i5 3230M

6.29 mHash/s

CompuBench 1.5 (T-Rex) Data courtesy CompuBench

Core i5 4200U

1.18 fps

Core i5 3230M

0.97 fps

PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated Data courtesy FutureMark

Core i5 4200U

2,198

Core i5 3230M

2,289

Sky Diver Data courtesy FutureMark

Core i5 4200U

2,417

Core i5 3230M

1,796

Cloud Gate Data courtesy FutureMark

Core i5 4200U

4,370

Core i5 3230M

4,075

GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i5 4200U

4,464

Core i5 3230M

5,290

GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i5 4200U

2,312

Core i5 3230M

2,543

GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs

Core i5 4200U

3,015,000 MB/s

Core i5 3230M

2,110,000 MB/s

summary	Core i5 4200U	3230M
Clock speed	1.6 GHz	2.6 GHz
Turbo clock speed	2.6 GHz	3.2 GHz
Cores	Dual core	Dual core
Is unlocked	No	No
features
Has a NX bit	Yes	Yes
Supports trusted computing	No	No
Has virtualization support	Yes	Yes
Instruction set extensions
SSE2
MMX
SSE4
AVX
SSE3
EM64T
SSE
SSE4.1
FMA3
SSE4.2
Supplemental SSE3
AES
AVX 2.0
Supports dynamic frequency scaling	Yes	Yes
memory controller
Memory controller	Built-in	Built-in
Memory type
DDR3-1600
DDR3L-1600
DDR3-1333
DDR3L-1333
LPDDR3-1333
LPDDR3-1600
Channels	Dual Channel	Dual Channel
Supports ECC	No	No
Maximum bandwidth	25,600 MB/s	25,600 MB/s
Maximum memory size	16,384 MB	32,768 MB

details	Core i5 4200U	3230M
Architecture	x86-64	x86-64
Threads	4	4
L2 cache	0.5 MB	0.5 MB
L2 cache per core	0.25 MB/core	0.25 MB/core
L3 cache	3 MB	3 MB
L3 cache per core	1.5 MB/core	1.5 MB/core
Manufacture process	22 nm	22 nm
Max CPUs	1	1
Operating temperature	Unknown - 100°C	Unknown - 105°C
integrated graphics
GPU	GPU	GPU
Label	Intel® HD Graphics 4400	Intel® HD Graphics 4000
Number of displays supported	3	3
GPU clock speed	200 MHz	650 MHz
Turbo clock speed	1,000 MHz	1,100 MHz
power consumption
TDP	15W	35W
Annual home energy cost	3.61 $/year	8.43 $/year
Performance per watt	40.19 pt/W	13.35 pt/W
Typical power consumption	12.19W	28.44W
bus
Architecture	DMI 2.0	DMI
Number of links	1	1
Transfer rate	5,000 MT/s	5,000 MT/s

Intel Core i5 4200U

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Intel Core i5 3230M

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Comments

Showing 11 comments.

Gilberto Gomes (01:38 AM, October 15, 2014)

it have 2 cores but simulate more 2

Kurnos (12:14 PM, June 25, 2014)

Go with 3230M ..... its more powerful but be sure to plug in your charger while gaming or using softwares ..... ps the 4200U has hd graphics 4400 and 3230M has hd 4000 .... the differences are only 2-4 fps but with a proccesor like those two your human eyes wont even notice so go ahead and buy 3230M .....

Hamak (12:07 PM, June 25, 2014)

i have an intel atom

qwerty (03:58 PM, May 3, 2014)

the dxdiag on my computer tells me that the i5 3230M has 4 cores !? kinda weird...

Ran (04:34 PM, April 14, 2014)

which is better i5 - 4200u (4th gen) or the i5- 3230M (3rd gen) ? i hear that 3230 has better clock speed but 4200 has lesser power consumption and a bit more features . I'am confused as i want to buy a laptop that fits for gaming as well as software development ... please help !

Chris Xu (03:14 AM, April 3, 2014)

i have a asus laptop with the 3230m and it's pretty solid performance wise but the battery life is not great

Guest (05:49 PM, March 17, 2014)

Sorry not much faster but equally fast in everyday performance

Guest (05:46 PM, March 17, 2014)

As the description explained the 4200U is for ultraportables and is 15W tdp, the battery life will be much better on the 4200U but the 4th gen will be much faster for most everyday users while the 3230M will be more powerful for those obsessed with benchmarks...The 3230M is a great CPU - there is no reason to upgrade from the 3230M but both are equally fast as computers and cpus have hit a "plateau" a while back where each new generation on the similar TDP suffix is only 5-10% better than the last generation. P.S. I am typing this on a 4200U powered computer and its amazingly fast!

MGHM (03:17 PM, March 10, 2014)

I have the 3230, it can perform better than written, and have never reached 80^c, also very high speed reading and writing in ram with only 1 channel used with a 4gb 1600 DDR3 ram, 14000 mb writing and 17000 mb reading on AID 64.

Marcis (07:51 AM, January 16, 2014)

Error in main intro text - 4200U is 15W not 35W.

Abdul Hamid (12:18 PM, January 11, 2014)

its bullshit the processor 4200u is 4th generation and the other 3230m is 3rd generation there is no compare of them.

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