Intel Core i3-540 vs Intel Core i5-2400. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• Family
  Intel Core i3 Intel Core i5
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 500 Intel Core i 2000
• Segment
  Desktop / Server Desktop / Server
• Generation
  1 2

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

• Core architecture
  normal normal
• Frequency
  3.06 GHz 3.10 GHz
• Turbo (1 Core)
  No turbo 3.40 GHz
• Hyperthreading
  Yes No
• Overclocking
  No No

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• GPU name
  Intel HD Graphics (Westmere) Intel HD Graphics 2000
• GPU frequency
  0.50 GHz 0.85 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  0.73 GHz 1.10 GHz
• Execution units
  12 6
• Shader
  24 48
• Max. displays
  2 2
• Generation
  5 6
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Release date
  Q1/2010 Q1/2011

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No No
• h264
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VP8
  No No
• VP9
  No No
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  No Decode
• JPEG
  No No

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i5-2400 and Intel Core i3-540. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR3-1066DDR3-1333 DDR3-1066DDR3-1333
• Max. Memory
  32 GB
• Memory channels
  2 2
• ECC
  Yes No

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i3-540 and Intel Core i5-2400 to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  73 W 95 W

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i3-540 and Intel Core i3-540, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2 SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L3-Cache
  4.00 MB 6.00 MB
• Architecture
  Clarkdale Sandy Bridge S
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT VT-x, VT-x EPT
• Socket
  LGA 1156 LGA 1155
• Release date
  Q1/2010 Q1/2011