Athlon X4 840 vs i5-3550

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1630	1874
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.53	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Core i5 (Desktop)	4x Athlon
Power efficiency	3.71	3.04
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)	Kaveri (2014−2015)
Release date	29 April 2012 (12 years ago)	August 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$205	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	3.3 GHz	3.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	3.8 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	256K
L2 cache	256K (per core)	4 MB
L3 cache	6 MB (shared)	no data
Chip lithography	22 nm	28 nm
Die size	160 mm2	245 mm2
Maximum core temperature	67 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	67 °C	72 °C
Number of transistors	1,400 million	2,411 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 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	FCLGA1155	Socket FM2+
Power consumption (TDP)	77 Watt	65 watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
FDI	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 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 i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 2500	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.15 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

3

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	3.02	2.09
Recency	29 April 2012	on August 2014
Chip lithography	22 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	77 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-3550 and Athlon X4 840, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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