Pentium M 730 vs i5-2540M

Place in the ranking	2161	3277
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i5	Pentium M
Power efficiency	4.03	0.60
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Dothan (2004−2005)
Release date	1 February 2011 (13 years ago)	19 January 2005 (19 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$266	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730 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)	1 (Single-Core)
Threads	4	1
Base clock speed	2.6 GHz	1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	1.6 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	533 MHz
Multiplier	26	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	32 KB
L2 cache	256K (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	90 nm
Die size	149 mm²	87 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	624 million	144 million
64 bit support	+	-
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	no data	1.26V-1.356V

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730 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)	1
Socket	FCBGA1023,PPGA988	PPGA478, H-PBGA479
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	27 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	+	-
FMA	+	-
AVX	+	-
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	-
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	-
PAE	no data	32 Bit
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
FSB parity	no data	-

Security technologies

Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR2
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	On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)
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 i5-2540M and Pentium M 730 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 i5-2540M and Pentium M 730.

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.

i5-2540M 1.49
+776%

Pentium M 730 0.17

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.

i5-2540M 3682
+455%

Pentium M 730 663

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i5-2540M 17.23
+527%

Pentium M 730 108

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.49	0.17
Recency	1 February 2011	19 January 2005
Physical cores	2	1
Threads	4	1
Chip lithography	32 nm	90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	27 Watt

i5-2540M has a 776.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, 100% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 181.3% more advanced lithography process.

Pentium M 730, on the other hand, has 29.6% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-2540M is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium M 730 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-2540M and Pentium M 730, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.