Phenom II X2 N640 vs i5-540M

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Core i3-330M Core i3-350M Core i3-370M Core i3-380M Core i5-430M Core i5-460M Core i5-480M Core i5-520M Core i5-560M Core i7-620M Core i7-640M Pentium P6200
VS
Athlon II P320 Athlon II P340 Athlon II P360 Phenom II X3 N830 Phenom II X4 N930 Phenom II X4 N970 Phenom II X4 P960 Turion II P520 Turion II P540 V-Series V120 V-Series V140 V-Series V160

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-540M
2010
2 cores / 4 threads, 35 Watt
1.14
+26.7%
Phenom II X2 N640
2010
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.90

Core i5-540M outperforms Phenom II X2 N640 by a significant 27% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

i5-540M i5-540M
Phenom II X2 N640 Phenom II X2 N640

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking23772529
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i52x AMD Phenom II
Power efficiency3.082.43
Architecture codenameArrandale (2010−2011)Champlain (2010−2011)
Release date7 January 2010 (14 years ago)1 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$257no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 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 speed2.53 GHzno data
Boost clock speed3.07 GHz2.9 GHz
Bus typeDMI 1.0no data
Bus rate1 × 2.5 GT/s3600 MHz
Multiplier19no data
L1 cache64K (per core)256 KB
L2 cache256K (per core)2 MB
L3 cache3 MB (shared)no data
Chip lithography32 nm45 nm
Die size81+114 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature105 °Cno data
Number of transistors382+177 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 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)no data
SocketBGA1288,PGA988S1
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2HyperTransport 3.0, SSE4A, AMD64, Enhanced Virus Protection, Vurtualization
AES-NI+-
FMA+-
VirusProtect-+
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology+no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access+no data
PAE36 Bitno data
FDI+no data
Fast Memory Access+no data

Security technologies

Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 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 i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size8 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth17.051 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel Processorsno data
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency766 MHzno data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported2no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640.

PCIe version2.0no data
PCI Express lanes16no 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.

i5-540M 1.14
+26.7%
Phenom II X2 N640 0.90

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.

i5-540M 375
+9.6%
Phenom II X2 N640 342

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.

i5-540M 720
+15.6%
Phenom II X2 N640 623

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.

i5-540M 2
+33.1%
Phenom II X2 N640 2

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 1.14 0.90
Recency 7 January 2010 1 October 2010
Threads 4 2
Chip lithography 32 nm 45 nm

i5-540M has a 26.7% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Phenom II X2 N640, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 months.

The Core i5-540M is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X2 N640 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-540M and Phenom II X2 N640, 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 i5-540M
Core i5-540M
AMD Phenom II X2 N640
Phenom II X2 N640
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Community ratings

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

3.7 163 votes

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3.6 18 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i5-540M or Phenom II X2 N640, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.