Core i5-650 vs Athlon II X4 638

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Aggregated performance score

Athlon II X4 638
2012
4 cores / 4 threads
1.45

Primary details

Comparing Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking20682070
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.054.93
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Architecture codenameLlano (2011−2012)Clarkdale (2010−2011)
Release date6 February 2012 (12 years ago)7 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$35
Current price$27 $75 (2.1x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i5-650 has 140% better value for money than Athlon II X4 638.

Detailed specifications

Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads44
Base clock speed2.7 GHz3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed2.7 GHz3.46 GHz
L1 cache128 KB (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache1 MB (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache0 KB4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm32 nm
Die size228 mm281 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data73 °C
Number of transistors1,178 million382 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierNoNo

Compatibility

Information on Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration11
SocketFM1FCLGA1156
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt73 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NIno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data1.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data-
Demand Based Switchingno data-
PAEno data36 Bit
FDIno data+
Statusno dataDiscontinued

Security technologies

Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 are enumerated here.

AMD-V+no data
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory sizeno data16.38 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidthno data21 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors
Clear Video HDno data+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data2

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650.

PCIe versionno data2.0
PCI Express lanesno data16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Athlon II X4 638 1.45
i5-650 1.45

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

Athlon II X4 638 2250
+0.4%
i5-650 2241

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Recency 6 February 2012 7 January 2010
Physical cores 4 2
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 73 Watt

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650.


Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon II X4 638 and Core i5-650, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Athlon II X4 638
Athlon II X4 638
Intel Core i5-650
Core i5-650

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.3 29 votes

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3.5 892 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Athlon II X4 638 or Core i5-650, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.