Phenom II X3 P820 vs i5-2520M

Place in performance ranking	2169	2706
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i5	3x AMD Phenom II
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Champlain (2010−2011)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	12 May 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$225	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820 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)	3 (Tri-Core)
Threads	4	3
Base clock speed	2.5 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	1.8 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	3600 MHz
Multiplier	25	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	384 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	1.5 MB
L3 cache	3 MB	no data
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	149 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	no data
Number of transistors	624 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820 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 (Uniprocessor)	no data
Socket	PPGA988	S1
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	25 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	Virtualization, AMD64, Advanced Virus Protection, SSE(1,2,3,4a)
AES-NI	+	-
FMA	+	-
AVX	+	-
VirusProtect	-	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Status	Discontinued	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	16 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 3000	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.3 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	no 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.

i5-2520M 1.45
+113%

Phenom II X3 P820 0.68

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.

i5-2520M 4041
+159%

Phenom II X3 P820 1560

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.

i5-2520M 8815
+111%

Phenom II X3 P820 4169

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.

i5-2520M 3542
+73.3%

Phenom II X3 P820 2043

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.

i5-2520M 3
+85.7%

Phenom II X3 P820 2

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.45	0.68
Recency	20 February 2011	12 May 2010
Physical cores	2	3
Threads	4	3
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	25 Watt

i5-2520M has a 113.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 months, 33.3% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Phenom II X3 P820, on the other hand, has 50% more physical cores, and 40% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-2520M is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X3 P820 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-2520M and Phenom II X3 P820, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.