Core i5-2520M vs Core 2 Duo SP9600

Place in the ranking	2707	2218
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core 2 Duo	Intel Core i5
Power efficiency	2.67	3.79
Architecture codename	Penryn (2008−2011)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	1 March 2009 (15 years ago)	1 February 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$316	$225

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M 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	2.53 GHz	2.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.53 GHz	3.2 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 2.0
Bus rate	1066 MHz	4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	25
L1 cache	128 KB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB	256K (per core)
L3 cache	6 MB L2 Cache	3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	45 nm	32 nm
Die size	107 mm²	149 mm²
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	410 Million	624 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	1.05V-1.15V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M 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 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	BGA479,BGA956,PBGA479	PPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® AVX
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	no data	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	-
FDI	no data	+
Fast Memory Access	no data	+
FSB parity	-	no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	-	+
Anti-Theft	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M are enumerated here.

AMD-V	-	+
VT-d	no data	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	no data	DDR3
Maximum memory size	no data	16 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel HD Graphics 3000
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	1.3 GHz
InTru 3D	no data	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	no data	2
eDP	no data	+
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+
SDVO	no data	+
CRT	no data	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M.

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.

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.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 0.71

i5-2520M 1.41
+98.6%

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.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 2836

i5-2520M 4041
+42.5%

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.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 5309

i5-2520M 8815
+66%

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 2189

i5-2520M 3542
+61.8%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Core 2 Duo SP9600 44.4

i5-2520M 18
+147%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.71	1.41
Recency	1 March 2009	1 February 2011
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	45 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	35 Watt

Core 2 Duo SP9600 has 40% lower power consumption.

i5-2520M, on the other hand, has a 98.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i5-2520M is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo SP9600 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-2520M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.