Core i5-540M vs Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Aggregated performance score
General info
Comparing Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 2233 | 2230 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Core 2 Extreme | Intel Core i5 |
| Architecture codename | Penryn (2008−2011) | Arrandale (2010−2011) |
| Release date | August 2008 (15 years old) | 7 January 2010 (14 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $257 |
| Current price | $844 | $210 (0.8x MSRP) |
Technical specs
Core 2 Extreme QX9300 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.53 GHz | 2.53 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.53 GHz | 3.07 GHz |
| Bus support | 1066 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 12 MB | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 3 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 2x 107 mm2 | 81+114 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | 105 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 382+177 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | Yes | No |
| VID voltage range | 1.05V-1.175V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Core 2 Extreme QX9300 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 | 2 | 1 |
| Socket | PGA478 | BGA1288,PGA988 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 45 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Extreme QX9300 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) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | + |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | no data | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| PAE | no data | 36 Bit |
| FDI | no data | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
| AMT | + | no data |
| FSB parity | - | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Extreme QX9300 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 Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 2 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Extreme QX9300 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.
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.
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%
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 Core 2 Extreme QX9300 by 1% 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 2 Extreme QX9300 outperforms Core i5-540M by 55% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 19%
Core 2 Extreme QX9300 outperforms Core i5-540M by 34% in 3DMark06 CPU.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 18%
Core i5-540M outperforms Core 2 Extreme QX9300 by 18% in wPrime 32.
Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
Core 2 Extreme QX9300 outperforms Core i5-540M by 19% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 45 Watt | 35 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M. The differences in performance seem too small.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Extreme QX9300 and Core i5-540M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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