Apple M1 vs Athlon II X2 250

Place in the ranking	2741	1204
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	3.61	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Apple Apple M-Series
Power efficiency	0.99	no data
Architecture codename	Regor (2009−2013)	no data
Release date	2 June 2009 (15 years ago)	10 November 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$39	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Athlon II X2 250 and M1 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)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	2	8
Base clock speed	3 GHz	2.064 GHz
Boost clock speed	3 GHz	3.2 GHz
L1 cache	256 KB	2 MB
L2 cache	2 MB	16 MB
L3 cache	0 KB	16 MB
Chip lithography	45 nm	5 nm
Die size	117 mm²	no data
Number of transistors	410 million	16000 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Athlon II X2 250 and M1 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	no data
Socket	AM3	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon II X2 250 and M1. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR3

no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)

Apple M1 8-Core GPU

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon II X2 250 and M1.

PCIe version

2.0

no data

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 X2 250 0.68

Apple M1 5.17
+660%

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.

Athlon II X2 250 1080

Apple M1 8207
+660%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.68	5.17
Recency	2 June 2009	10 November 2020
Physical cores	2	8
Threads	2	8
Chip lithography	45 nm	5 nm

Apple M1 has a 660.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, 300% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 800% more advanced lithography process.

The M1 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon II X2 250 in performance tests.

Note that Athlon II X2 250 is a desktop processor while Apple M1 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon II X2 250 and Apple M1, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.