i3-550 vs Turion II M520
Aggregate performance score
Core i3-550 outperforms Turion II M520 by an impressive 80% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2826 | 2448 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 0.11 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | AMD Turion II | no data |
| Power efficiency | 1.51 | 1.31 |
| Architecture codename | Caspian (2009) | Clarkdale (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 10 September 2009 (15 years ago) | 30 May 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $101 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 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) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 3.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.3 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Bus rate | 3600 MHz | 2.5 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 64 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 256 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 4 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | no data | 81 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 73 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 382 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 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 | no data | 1 |
| Socket | Socket S1 (s1g3) 638-pin | FCLGA1156 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 73 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Turion II M520 and Core i3-550. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, Enhanced 3DNow!, NX bit, AMD64, PowerNow!, AMD Virtualization | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| PowerNow | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| PAE | no data | 36 Bit |
| FDI | no data | + |
Security technologies
Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 are enumerated here.
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Turion II M520 and Core i3-550. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 16.38 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 21 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors |
| Clear Video HD | no data | + |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Turion II M520 and Core i3-550 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 2 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Turion II M520 and Core i3-550.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.56 | 1.01 |
| Recency | 10 September 2009 | 30 May 2010 |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 73 Watt |
Turion II M520 has 108.6% lower power consumption.
i3-550, on the other hand, has a 80.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 months, 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
The Core i3-550 is our recommended choice as it beats the Turion II M520 in performance tests.
Be aware that Turion II M520 is a notebook processor while Core i3-550 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Turion II M520 and Core i3-550, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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