Pentium B940 vs i5-520M

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-520M
2010
2 cores / 4 threads, 35 Watt
1.10
+100%
Pentium B940
2011
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.55

Core i5-520M outperforms Pentium B940 by a whopping 100% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking24052832
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i5Intel Pentium
Power efficiency2.931.46
Architecture codenameArrandale (2010−2011)Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date7 January 2010 (14 years ago)13 June 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$225$134

Detailed specifications

Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads42
Base clock speed2.4 GHz2 GHz
Boost clock speed2.93 GHz2 GHz
Bus typeDMI 1.0DMI 2.0
Bus rate1 × 2.5 GT/s4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier1820
L1 cache128 KB128 KB
L2 cache512 KB512 KB
L3 cache3 MB2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm32 nm
Die size81+114 mm2131 mm2
Maximum core temperature105 °C85 °C
Number of transistors382+177 Million504 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketBGA1288,PGA988PGA988
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-520M and Pentium B940. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI+-
FMA++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFino data-
Turbo Boost Technology+-
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Demand Based Switchingno data-
PAE36 Bitno data
FDI++
Fast Memory Access++

Security technologies

Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+-
EDB++
Anti-Theftno data-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 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 Pentium B940. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3-800, DDR3-1066DDR3
Maximum memory size8.3 GB16 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth17.051 GB/s21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® ProcessorsIntel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors
Clear Video+-
Clear Video HD+-
Graphics max frequency766 MHz1.1 GHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-520M and Pentium B940 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported22
eDPno data+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
SDVOno data+
CRTno data+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-520M and Pentium B940.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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 1.10
+100%
Pentium B940 0.55

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 1716
+99.3%
Pentium B940 861

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 364
+14.8%
Pentium B940 317

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 700
+28.7%
Pentium B940 544

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i5-520M 3046
+16.7%
Pentium B940 2610

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i5-520M 6753
+33.3%
Pentium B940 5067

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i5-520M 2729
+34.1%
Pentium B940 2034

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i5-520M 2
+39.1%
Pentium B940 2

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.10 0.55
Recency 7 January 2010 13 June 2011
Threads 4 2

i5-520M has a 100% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.

Pentium B940, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year.

The Core i5-520M is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium B940 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-520M and Pentium B940, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i5-520M
Core i5-520M
Intel Pentium B940
Pentium B940

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.6 369 votes

Rate Core i5-520M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.1 140 votes

Rate Pentium B940 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i5-520M or Pentium B940, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.