Pentium Gold G6400 vs Core i5-2500

General info

Comparing Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1600	1601
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	0.66	3.38
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Comet Lake (2020)
Release date	9 January 2011 (13 years ago)	30 April 2020 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$85	no data
Current price	$56 (0.7x MSRP)	$393

Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

Pentium Gold G6400 has 412% better value for money than i5-2500.

Technical specs

Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 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	3.3 GHz	4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	4 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64K (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256K (per core)
L3 cache	6144 KB (shared)	4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Die size	216 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	1,160 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 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	LGA1155	FCLGA1200
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	58 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	no data	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
SIPP	no data	-
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	-
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Status	Discontinued	Launched

Security technologies

Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Identity Protection	+	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4-2666
Maximum memory size	32 GB	128 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	41.6 GB/s
ECC memory support	-	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 2000	Intel UHD Graphics 610
Max video memory	no data	64 GB
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	no data	+
Clear Video HD	+	+
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	1.05 GHz
InTru 3D	+	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

2

3

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096x2160@30Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	4096x2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12
OpenGL	no data	4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400.

PCIe version	2.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	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.

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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.

Advantages and disadvantages

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Performance score	2.65	2.64
Integrated graphics card		1.34
Recency	9 January 2011	30 April 2020
Physical cores	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	58 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-2500 and Pentium Gold G6400, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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