Athlon Gold 3150U vs i3-540

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i3-540
2010
2 cores / 4 threads, 73 Watt
0.97
Athlon Gold 3150U
2020
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
2.52
+160%

Athlon Gold 3150U outperforms Core i3-540 by a whopping 160% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking24811741
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.11no data
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
Seriesno dataAMD Picasso (Ryzen 3000 APU)
Power efficiency1.2515.83
Architecture codenameClarkdale (2010−2011)Dali (Zen) (2020)
Release date7 January 2010 (14 years ago)6 January 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$45no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads44
Base clock speed3.06 GHz2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed0.07 GHz3.3 GHz
Bus rate2.5 GT/sno data
Multiplierno data24
L1 cache64 KB (per core)192 KB
L2 cache256 KB (per core)1 MB
L3 cache4 MB (shared)4 MB
Chip lithography32 nm14 nm
Die size81 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature73 °C95 °C
Number of transistors382 million4500 Million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U 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 configuration1no data
SocketFCLGA1156FP5
Power consumption (TDP)73 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME
AES-NI-+
FMA-+
AVX-+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology-no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
Idle States+no data
Demand Based Switching-no data
PAE36 Bitno data
FDI+no data
Precision Boost 2no data+

Security technologies

Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U 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 Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-x+no data
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4
Maximum memory size16.38 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth21 GB/s38.397 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® ProcessorsAMD Radeon RX Vega 3
Clear Video HD+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported2no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U.

PCIe version2.03.0
PCI Express lanes1612

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.

i3-540 0.97
Athlon Gold 3150U 2.52
+160%

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.

i3-540 1538
Athlon Gold 3150U 3989
+159%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i3-540 409
Athlon Gold 3150U 814
+99%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i3-540 837
Athlon Gold 3150U 1669
+99.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.97 2.52
Recency 7 January 2010 6 January 2020
Chip lithography 32 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 73 Watt 15 Watt

Athlon Gold 3150U has a 159.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 9 years, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 386.7% lower power consumption.

The Athlon Gold 3150U is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-540 in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-540 is a desktop processor while Athlon Gold 3150U is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-540 and Athlon Gold 3150U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i3-540
Core i3-540
AMD Athlon Gold 3150U
Athlon Gold 3150U

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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