Core 2 Duo E8500 vs Core i5-520M

Place in the ranking	2420	2612
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Core i5	no data
Power efficiency	2.92	1.18
Architecture codename	Arrandale (2010−2011)	Wolfdale (2008−2010)
Release date	7 January 2010 (14 years ago)	January 2008 (16 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$225	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500 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	2.4 GHz	3.16 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.93 GHz	3.17 GHz
Bus type	DMI 1.0	no data
Bus rate	1 × 2.5 GT/s	1333 MHz
Multiplier	18	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	64 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	6 MB (shared)
L3 cache	3 MB	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	81+114 mm²	107 mm²
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	382+177 Million	410 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	no data	0.85V-1.3625V

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500 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	BGA1288,PGA988	LGA775
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	no data
AES-NI	+	-
FMA	+	-
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	+	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
PAE	36 Bit	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
FSB parity	no data	-

Security technologies

Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3-800, DDR3-1066	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Maximum memory size	8.3 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	17.051 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	+	no data
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	766 MHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
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.

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.

i5-520M 1.08
+33.3%

Core 2 Duo E8500 0.81

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.

i5-520M 1720
+34.3%

Core 2 Duo E8500 1281

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.

i5-520M 362

Core 2 Duo E8500 389
+7.5%

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.

i5-520M 699
+9.6%

Core 2 Duo E8500 638

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.08	0.81
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	65 Watt

i5-520M has a 33.3% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more threads, a 40.6% more advanced lithography process, and 85.7% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-520M is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo E8500 in performance tests.

Be aware that Core i5-520M is a notebook processor while Core 2 Duo E8500 is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-520M and Core 2 Duo E8500, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.