Core i5-540M vs Athlon 64 X2 4600+
Primary details
Comparing Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | not rated | 2247 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | 2x Athlon 64 (Desktop) | Intel Core i5 |
| Architecture codename | Windsor (2006−2009) | Arrandale (2010−2011) |
| Release date | no data | 7 January 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $257 |
| Current price | $50 | $210 (0.8x MSRP) |
Detailed specifications
Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M 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 cores | 2 (Dual-core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 2.53 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.4 GHz | 3.07 GHz |
| Bus support | 1000 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| L1 cache | no data | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | no data | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 3 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 90 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | no data | 81+114 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 382+177 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M 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 configuration | no data | 1 |
| Socket | no data | BGA1288,PGA988 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | no data | + |
| FMA | no data | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | + |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | no data | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| PAE | no data | 36 Bit |
| FDI | no data | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
| Status | no data | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 8 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 17.1 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | no data | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors |
| Clear Video | no data | + |
| Clear Video HD | no data | + |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 766 MHz |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 2 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
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%
Core i5-540M outperforms Athlon 64 X2 4600+ by 152% in Passmark.
GeekBench 5 Single-Core
GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Core i5-540M outperforms Athlon 64 X2 4600+ by 60% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Core i5-540M outperforms Athlon 64 X2 4600+ by 72% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core
Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.
Benchmark coverage: 20%
Core i5-540M outperforms Athlon 64 X2 4600+ by 62% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.
Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.
Benchmark coverage: 19%
Core i5-540M outperforms Athlon 64 X2 4600+ by 88% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.
Pros & cons summary
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 90 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 35 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that Athlon 64 X2 4600+ is a desktop processor while Core i5-540M is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon 64 X2 4600+ and Core i5-540M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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