Intel Core i5-2540M: specs and benchmarks
- Interface
- Core clock speed
- Max video memory
- Memory type
- Memory clock speed
- Maximum resolution
Summary
Intel started Intel Core i5-2540M sales 1 February 2011 at a recommended price of $266. This is Sandy Bridge architecture notebook processor primarily aimed at office systems. It has 2 cores and 4 threads, and is based on 32 nm manufacturing technology, with a maximum frequency of 3300 MHz and a locked multiplier.
Compatibility-wise, this is PPGA988, FCBGA1023 processor with a TDP of 35 Watt. It supports DDR3 memory.
It provides poor benchmark performance at
of a leader's which is AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX.
General info
Of Core i5-2540M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and pricing.
Place in performance rating | 1778 | |
Market segment | Laptop | |
Series | Intel Core i5 | |
Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | |
Release date | 1 February 2011 (11 years ago) | |
Launch price (MSRP) | $266 | of 305 (Core i7-870) |
Price now | $111 (0.4x MSRP) | of 14999 (Xeon Platinum 9282) |
Technical specs
Basic microprocessor parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters can generally indicate CPU performance, but to be more precise you have to review its test results.
Physical cores | 2 (Dual-core) | |
Threads | 4 | |
Base clock speed | 2.6 GHz | of 4.7 (FX-9590) |
Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | of 5.5 (Core i9-12900KS) |
L1 cache | 64K (per core) | of 1536 (EPYC Embedded 3401) |
L2 cache | 256K (per core) | of 12288 (Core 2 Quad Q9550) |
L3 cache | 3 MB (shared) | of 32 (Ryzen Threadripper 1998) |
Chip lithography | 32 nm | of 5 (Apple M1) |
Die size | 149 mm2 | |
Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | of 110 (Atom x7-E3950) |
Number of transistors | 624 million | of 57000 (Apple M1 Max) |
64 bit support | + | |
Windows 11 compatibility | - | |
Unlocked multiplier | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i5-2540M compatibility with other computer components and devices: 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 | of 8 (Opteron 842) |
Socket | PPGA988, FCBGA1023 | |
Thermal design power (TDP) | 35 Watt | of 400 (Xeon Platinum 9282) |
Technologies and extensions
Technological capabilities and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2540M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
Instruction set extensions | Intel® AVX | |
AES-NI | + | |
FMA | + | |
AVX | + | |
vPro | + | |
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | |
My WiFi | + | |
Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | |
Hyper-Threading Technology | + | |
Idle States | + | |
Thermal Monitoring | + | |
Flex Memory Access | + | |
Demand Based Switching | - | |
FDI | + | |
Fast Memory Access | + |
Security technologies
Processor technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
TXT | + | |
EDB | + | |
Identity Protection | + | |
Anti-Theft | + |
Virtualization technologies
Supported virtual machine optimization technologies. Some are specific to Intel only, some to AMD.
AMD-V | + | |
VT-d | + | |
VT-x | + | |
EPT | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel number of RAM supported by Core i5-2540M's memory controller. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequency may be supported.
Supported memory types | DDR3 | of 4800 (Ryzen 9 6980HX) |
Maximum memory size | 16 GB | of 786 (Xeon E5-2670 v3) |
Max memory channels | 2 | of 12 (Xeon Platinum 9221) |
Maximum memory bandwidth | 21.3 GB/s | of 281.6 (Xeon Platinum 9221) |
ECC memory support | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of GPU integrated into Core i5-2540M.
Integrated graphics card | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | |
Quick Sync Video | + | |
Clear Video HD | + | |
Graphics max frequency | 1.3 GHz | |
InTru 3D | + |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-2540M's integrated GPU.
Number of displays supported | 2 | |
eDP | + | |
DisplayPort | + | |
HDMI | + | |
SDVO | + | |
CRT | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection types of supported peripherals.
PCIe version | 2.0 | of 3 (Core i7-7700K) |
PCI Express lanes | 16 | of 128 (EPYC 7551P) |
Benchmark performance
Single-core and multi-core benchmark results of Core i5-2540M. Overall benchmark performance is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Overall 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.
- Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core
- 3DMark06 CPU
- WinRAR 4.0
- TrueCrypt AES
- Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core
- Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core
- Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
- Passmark
- GeekBench 5 Single-Core
- GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
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.
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.
WinRAR 4.0
WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.
TrueCrypt AES
TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.
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.
Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core
Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.
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.
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.
GeekBench 5 Single-Core
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
Mining hashrates
Cryptocurrency mining performance of Core i5-2540M. Usually measured in megahashes per second.
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) | 2 Mh/s |
Game benchmarks
Relative perfomance
Overall Core i5-2540M performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook CPUs.
AMD equivalent
We believe that the nearest equivalent to Core i5-2540M from AMD is E2-7110, which is nearly equal in speed and lower by 3 positions in our rating.
Here are some closest AMD rivals to Core i5-2540M:
Similar processors
Here is our recommendation of several processors that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.
Recommended graphics cards
These graphics cards are most commonly used with Core i5-2540M according to our statistics.