Pentium B980 vs i3-540
Aggregate performance score
Core i3-540 outperforms Pentium B980 by a considerable 43% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2482 | 2717 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.11 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Pentium |
| Power efficiency | 1.26 | 1.84 |
| Architecture codename | Clarkdale (2010−2011) | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) |
| Release date | 7 January 2010 (14 years ago) | 1 September 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $45 | $125 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 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 | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 3.06 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 0.07 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 2.0 |
| Bus rate | 2.5 GT/s | 4 × 5 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 24 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 2 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 81 mm2 | 131 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 73 °C | 85 °C |
| Number of transistors | 382 million | 504 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 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 | FCLGA1156 | FCPGA988,PGA988 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-540 and Pentium B980. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 |
| FMA | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| My WiFi | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | - | - |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
| FDI | + | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
Security technologies
Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | - |
| EDB | + | + |
| Anti-Theft | no data | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | - |
| VT-x | + | - |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-540 and Pentium B980. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 16.38 GB | 16 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | 21.335 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel Processors | Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors |
| Clear Video HD | + | - |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 1.15 GHz |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-540 and Pentium B980 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | 2 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| SDVO | no data | + |
| CRT | no data | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-540 and Pentium B980.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 16 |
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.97 | 0.68 |
| Recency | 7 January 2010 | 1 September 2012 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 35 Watt |
i3-540 has a 42.6% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.
Pentium B980, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, and 108.6% lower power consumption.
The Core i3-540 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium B980 in performance tests.
Note that Core i3-540 is a desktop processor while Pentium B980 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-540 and Pentium B980, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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