Athlon II X2 250u vs i3-3240

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	2161	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.62	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	2.51	no data
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)	Regor (2009−2013)
Release date	3 September 2012 (12 years ago)	20 October 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$75	$35

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u 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	4	2
Base clock speed	3.4 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.4 GHz	1.6 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Die size	94 mm2	117 mm2
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	65 °C	no data
Number of transistors	no data	410 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u 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
Socket	FCLGA1155	AM3
Power consumption (TDP)	55 Watt	25 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	no data
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
FDI	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

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

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 2500	On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.05 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

3

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u.

PCIe version

2.0

2.0

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

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Pros & cons summary

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Recency	3 September 2012	20 October 2009
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	55 Watt	25 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-3240 and Athlon II X2 250u, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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