Core i5-3230M vs Core 2 Duo SP9600

Place in the ranking	2692	2087
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	2.68	4.36
Architecture codename	Penryn (2008−2011)	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date	1 March 2009 (15 years ago)	1 January 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$316	$225

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-3230M 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	2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.53 GHz	3.2 GHz
Bus rate	1066 MHz	5 GT/s
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	22 nm
Die size	107 mm²	118 mm²
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	410 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	1.05V-1.15V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-3230M 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	BGA479,BGA956,PBGA479	FCPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-3230M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® AVX
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
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 i5-3230M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-3230M 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 i5-3230M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	no data	DDR3
Maximum memory size	no data	32 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel HD Graphics 4000
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	1.1 GHz
InTru 3D	no data	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Duo SP9600 and Core i5-3230M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	no data	3
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 i5-3230M.

PCIe version	no data	3.0
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

i5-3230M 1.62
+128%

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

i5-3230M 4268
+50.5%

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

i5-3230M 9159
+72.5%

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

i5-3230M 3760
+71.8%

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

i5-3230M 17.83
+149%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.71	1.62
Recency	1 March 2009	1 January 2013
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	45 nm	22 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	25 Watt	35 Watt

Core 2 Duo SP9600 has 40% lower power consumption.

i5-3230M, on the other hand, has a 128.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more threads, and a 104.5% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i5-3230M 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 i5-3230M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.