Athlon II X2 270u vs i3-550
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2446 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.06 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 1.31 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Clarkdale (2010−2011) | Regor (2009−2013) |
| Release date | 30 May 2010 (14 years ago) | 21 September 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $101 | $68 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u 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 | 3.2 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Bus rate | 2.5 GT/s | no data |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 1 MB |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 81 mm2 | 117 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 73 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 382 million | 410 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u 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 |
| Socket | FCLGA1156 | AM3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 25 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
| FDI | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u 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 i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u are enumerated here.
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR2, DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 16.38 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors | no data |
| Clear Video HD | + | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 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.
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
| Recency | 30 May 2010 | 21 September 2010 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 25 Watt |
i3-550 has 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
Athlon II X2 270u, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 months, and 192% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-550 and Athlon II X2 270u, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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