Pentium 997 vs i5-2500

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1722	2866
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.66	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	2.58	2.84
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	9 January 2011 (13 years ago)	1 September 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$85	$134

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 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	4 (Quad-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	2
Base clock speed	3.3 GHz	1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	1.6 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 2.0
Bus rate	5 GT/s	4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	16
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB
L3 cache	6144 KB (shared)	2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	216 mm2	131 mm2
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	1,160 million	504 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 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	LGA1155	FCBGA1023
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	17 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	-
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	no data	-
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	+
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
FDI	+	+
Fast Memory Access	+	+

Security technologies

Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	+	-
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	-
VT-x	+	-
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 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 2000	Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	-
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	1 GHz
InTru 3D	+	-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997 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 i5-2500 and Pentium 997.

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.

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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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	2.64	0.52
Recency	9 January 2011	1 September 2012
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	4	2
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	17 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-2500 and Pentium 997, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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