Atom Z520 vs Athlon II X2 215
Aggregate performance score
Athlon II X2 215 outperforms Atom Z520 by a whopping 663% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2798 | 3403 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 8.66 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Atom |
| Power efficiency | 0.89 | 3.79 |
| Architecture codename | Regor (2009−2013) | Silverthorne (2008−2010) |
| Release date | 20 October 2009 (15 years ago) | 2 April 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $45 | $65 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520 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) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 2 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 1.33 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 0.03 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | FSB |
| Bus rate | no data | 533.33 MT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 10 |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 56 KB |
| L2 cache | 512 KB | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 117 mm2 | 24.18 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 90 °C |
| Number of transistors | 410 million | 47 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | no data | 0.75-1.1V |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520 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 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | AM3 | PBGA441 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 2 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3 |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | + |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
Security technologies
Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520 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 Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | - |
| VT-x | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
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.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.61 | 0.08 |
| Recency | 20 October 2009 | 2 April 2008 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 1 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 2 Watt |
Athlon II X2 215 has a 662.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 100% more physical cores.
Atom Z520, on the other hand, has 3150% lower power consumption.
The Athlon II X2 215 is our recommended choice as it beats the Atom Z520 in performance tests.
Note that Athlon II X2 215 is a desktop processor while Atom Z520 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon II X2 215 and Atom Z520, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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