Intel Core i5-2540M vs Intel Core i5-2550k. Specifications, performance, tests

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

• Segment
  Mobile Desktop / Server
• Family
  Intel Core i5 Intel Core i5
• Generation
  2 2
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 2000M Intel Core i 2000

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.

• Frequency
  2.60 GHz 3.40 GHz
• CPU Cores
  2 4
• Turbo (1 Core)
  3.30 GHz 3.80 GHz
• CPU Threads
  4 4
• Hyperthreading
  Yes No
• Overclocking
  No Yes
• Core architecture
  normal normal

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 3000 no iGPU
• GPU frequency
  0.65 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  1.30 GHz No turbo
• Execution units
  12
• Shader
  96
• Max. displays
  2
• Generation
  6
• DirectX Version
  10.1
• Technology
  32 nm
• Release date
  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 / Encode No
• VP9
  No No
• VP8
  No No
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  Decode / Encode No
• VC-1
  Decode No
• JPEG
  No No

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i5-2550k and Intel Core i5-2540M. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR3-1066DDR3-1333 DDR3-1333
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 32 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 2
• PCIe version
  2.0 2.0
• PCIe lanes
  16 16

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i5-2540M and Intel Core i5-2550k to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  35 W 95 W
• Tjunction max.
  100 °C --

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i5-2540M and Intel Core i5-2540M, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT VT-x, VT-x EPT
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L3-Cache
  3.00 MB 6.00 MB
• Architecture
  Sandy Bridge H Sandy Bridge S
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Socket
  BGA 1023 LGA 1155
• Release date
  Q1/2011 Q1/2012