i5-9300HF vs i5-2520M

Place in the ranking	2200	1283
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i5	Intel Core i5
Power efficiency	3.80	9.69
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Coffee Lake-H (2018−2019)
Release date	1 February 2011 (13 years ago)	30 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$225	$250

Detailed specifications

Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	8
Base clock speed	2.5 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	4.1 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	8 GT/s DMI
Multiplier	25	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	256 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	1 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	8 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Die size	149 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	624 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF 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 (Uniprocessor)	1
Socket	PPGA988	FCBGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	+	-
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
My WiFi	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
MPX	-	+
Identity Protection	+	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	no data	+
Anti-Theft	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF are enumerated here.

AMD-V	+	+
VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4
Maximum memory size	16 GB	128 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	41.8 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 3000	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.3 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF.

PCIe version	2.0	3.0
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.

i5-2520M 1.46

i5-9300HF 4.78
+227%

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.

i5-2520M 2238

i5-9300HF 7321
+227%

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.

i5-2520M 468

i5-9300HF 1284
+174%

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.

i5-2520M 931

i5-9300HF 3646
+292%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.46	4.78
Recency	1 February 2011	30 April 2019
Physical cores	2	4
Threads	4	8
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	45 Watt

i5-2520M has 28.6% lower power consumption.

i5-9300HF, on the other hand, has a 227.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 128.6% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i5-9300HF is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-2520M in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-2520M and Core i5-9300HF, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.