i5-520E vs Athlon 900
Primary details
Comparing Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Core i5 |
| Architecture codename | Thunderbird (1999−2000) | Westmere (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 6 March 2000 (24 years ago) | 7 January 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $899 | $210 |
Detailed specifications
Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E 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 | 1 (Single-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 1 | 4 |
| Boost clock speed | 0.9 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 1.0 |
| Bus rate | no data | 1 × 2.5 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 18 |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 512 KB | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 3 MB |
| Chip lithography | 180 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 102 mm2 | 81 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 70 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 22 million | 382 Million |
| 64 bit support | - | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E 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 | 1 | 1 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | A | no data |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | - | + |
| FMA | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
Security technologies
Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR1 | DDR3-1066 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 8 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 17.051 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | Intel HD Graphics (Ironlake) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 6 March 2000 | 7 January 2010 |
| Physical cores | 1 | 2 |
| Threads | 1 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 180 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 60 Watt | 35 Watt |
i5-520E has an age advantage of 9 years, 100% more physical cores and 300% more threads, a 462.5% more advanced lithography process, and 71.4% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that Athlon 900 is a desktop processor while Core i5-520E is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon 900 and Core i5-520E, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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