i5-2540M vs i7-2657M

Place in the ranking	2461	2143
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i7	Intel Core i5
Power efficiency	5.52	4.04
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	3 January 2011 (13 years ago)	1 February 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$317	$266

Detailed specifications

Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M 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	4
Base clock speed	1.6 GHz	2.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.7 GHz	3.3 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	DMI 2.0
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier	16	26
L1 cache	128 KB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	256K (per core)
L3 cache	4 MB	3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	149 mm²	149 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	624 Million	624 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M 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 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	FCBGA1023	FCBGA1023,PPGA988
Power consumption (TDP)	17 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	Intel® AVX
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	+	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	+
Demand Based Switching	-	-
FDI	+	+
Fast Memory Access	+	+

Security technologies

Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	+	+
Anti-Theft	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333	DDR3
Maximum memory size	8.01 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 3000	Intel HD Graphics 3000
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video HD	+	+
Graphics max frequency	1 GHz	1.3 GHz
InTru 3D	+	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	2
eDP	+	+
DisplayPort	+	+
HDMI	+	+
SDVO	+	+
CRT	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-2657M and Core i5-2540M.

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.

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.

i7-2657M 1.03

i5-2540M 1.55
+50.5%

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.

i7-2657M 3491

i5-2540M 4171
+19.5%

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.

i7-2657M 6229

i5-2540M 9109
+46.2%

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.

i7-2657M 2546

i5-2540M 3682
+44.6%

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.

i7-2657M 2

i5-2540M 3
+55%