Intel Core i5-6260U: specs and benchmarks

Summary
Intel started Intel Core i5-6260U sales 1 September 2015 at a recommended price of $304. This is Skylake architecture notebook processor primarily aimed at office systems. It has 2 cores and 4 threads, and is based on 14 nm manufacturing technology, with a maximum frequency of 2900 MHz and a locked multiplier.
Compatibility-wise, this is FCBGA1356 processor with a TDP of 15 Watt. It supports DDR4-2133, LPDDR3-1866, DDR3L-1600 memory.
It provides poor benchmark performance at 3.57 percent of a leader's which is AMD EPYC 7763.
General info
Of Core i5-6260U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and pricing.
Technical specs
Basic processor 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.
Compatibility
Information on Core i5-6260U 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.
Technologies and extensions
Technological capabilities and additional instructions supported by Core i5-6260U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
Security technologies
Processor technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
Virtualization technologies
Supported virtual machine optimization technologies. Some are specific to Intel only, some to AMD.
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel number of RAM supported by Core i5-6260U's memory controller.
Graphics specifications
General parameters of GPU integrated into Core i5-6260U.
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-6260U's integrated GPU.
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-6260U's integrated GPU, including resolutions over different interfaces.
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Core i5-6260U's integrated GPU, sometimes API versions are included.
Peripherals
Specifications and connection types of supported peripherals.
Benchmark performance
Single-core and multi-core benchmark results of Core i5-6260U. 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.
3DMark06 CPU
3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part containts two tests, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.
Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core
Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
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 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 15 64-bit single-core
Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made 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 (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.
Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core (sometimes called Multi-Thread) is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.
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.
x264 encoding pass 1
x264 benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to encode a sample Full HD (1080p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of source video file were encoded per second.
x264 encoding pass 2
x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames 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.
Geekbench 2
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different tests, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario.
Game benchmarks
Let's see how good Core i5-6260U is for a gaming PC, compared with system requirements of some popular titles. Remember that sometimes official hardware requirements may reflect real performance inaccurately.
Relative perfomance
Overall Core i5-6260U performance compared to nearest competitors among notebook CPUs.
AMD equivalent
We believe that the nearest equivalent to Core i5-6260U from AMD is Turion 64 X2 TL-50, which is slower by 1% and lower by 11 positions in our rating.