Athlon II X2 250 vs i3-540

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
Core i3-530 Core i3-540 Core i3-550 Core i3-560 Core i5-650 Core i5-655K Core i5-660 Core i5-661 Core i5-670 Core i5-680 Pentium G6950 Pentium G6960
VS
#ad 
Buy on Amazon
Athlon II X2 215 Athlon II X2 220 Athlon II X2 235e Athlon II X2 240 Athlon II X2 245 Athlon II X2 250 Athlon II X2 255 Athlon II X2 260 Athlon II X2 260u Athlon II X2 265 Athlon II X2 270 Athlon II X2 280

Aggregate performance score

Core i3-540
2010
2 cores / 4 threads, 73 Watt
0.97
+42.6%
Athlon II X2 250
2009
2 cores / 2 threads, 65 Watt
0.68

Core i3-540 outperforms Athlon II X2 250 by a considerable 43% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

i3-540 i3-540
Athlon II X2 250 Athlon II X2 250

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking24812723
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.113.61
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Power efficiency1.250.99
Architecture codenameClarkdale (2010−2011)Regor (2009−2013)
Release date7 January 2010 (14 years ago)2 June 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$45$39

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Athlon II X2 250 has 3182% better value for money than i3-540.

Detailed specifications

Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads42
Base clock speed3.06 GHz3 GHz
Boost clock speed0.07 GHz3 GHz
Bus rate2.5 GT/sno data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)256 KB
L2 cache256 KB (per core)2 MB
L3 cache4 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography32 nm45 nm
Die size81 mm2117 mm2
Maximum core temperature73 °Cno data
Number of transistors382 million410 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 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 configuration11
SocketFCLGA1156AM3
Power consumption (TDP)73 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology-no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
Idle States+no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
PAE36 Bitno data
FDI+no data

Security technologies

Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-no data
EDB+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 are enumerated here.

VT-x+no data
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size16.38 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth21 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® ProcessorsOn certain motherboards (Chipset feature)
Clear Video HD+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported2no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes16no 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.

i3-540 0.97
+42.6%
Athlon II X2 250 0.68

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.

i3-540 1538
+42.4%
Athlon II X2 250 1080

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i3-540 409
+33.2%
Athlon II X2 250 307

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i3-540 837
+55.3%
Athlon II X2 250 539

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 0.97 0.68
Recency 7 January 2010 2 June 2009
Threads 4 2
Chip lithography 32 nm 45 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 73 Watt 65 Watt

i3-540 has a 42.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 months, 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Athlon II X2 250, on the other hand, has 12.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-540 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon II X2 250 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-540 and Athlon II X2 250, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.

Intel Core i3-540
Core i3-540
AMD Athlon II X2 250
Athlon II X2 250
Like
Like

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
A4-7300 A4 7300
Athlon II X2 250 Athlon II X2 250
vs
Athlon II X2 235e Athlon II X2 235e
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Celeron G1620T Celeron G1620T
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X2 240 Athlon II X2 240
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Athlon 64 X2 6000+
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
A6-3620 A6 3620
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
A6-3600 A6 3600
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
A6-3500 A6 3500
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X2 260 Athlon II X2 260
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X2 270 Athlon II X2 270
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X3 420e Athlon II X3 420e
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X3 445 Athlon II X3 445
i3-540 Core i3 540
vs
Athlon II X3 450 Athlon II X3 450

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.

3.2 662 votes

Rate Core i3-540 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.4 1159 votes

Rate Athlon II X2 250 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i3-540 or Athlon II X2 250, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.