| | | | | | |

Core i5-2520M vs i5-2300


Description
Both models i5-2520M and i5-2300 are based on Sandy Bridge architecture.

"Sandy Bridge codename was originally ""Gesher"". The development began in 2005 and four years later, the first Sandy Bridge CPU was presented. The most prominent features are Intel Turbo Boost 2.0, AES encryption and SHA-1 hashing acceleration, Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) 256-bit instruction set and the ability to have up to 8 physical cores or 16 logical cores through Hyper-Threading."

Using the multithread performance as a reference, the i5-2520M gets a score of 50.2 k points while the i5-2300 gets 79.5 k points.

Summarizing, the i5-2300 is 1.6 times faster than the i5-2520M . To get a proper comparison between both models, take a look to the data shown below.

Specs
CPUID
206a7
206a7
Core
Sandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge
Architecture
Base frecuency
2.5 GHz
2.8 GHz
Boost frecuency
3.2 GHz
3.1 GHz
Socket
BGA1023
LGA 1155
Cores/Threads
2/2
4/4
TDP
35 W
95 W
Cache L1 (d+i)
2x32+2x32 kB
4x32+4x32 kB
Cache L2
2x256 kB
4x256 kB
Cache L3
3072 kB
6144 kB
Date
February 2011
May 2011
Mean monothread perf.
24.13k points
24.53k points
Mean multithread perf.
50.23k points
79.46k points

Non-optimized benchmark
The benchmark in Mode 0 (FPU) measures cpu performance with non-optimized software. It uses the basic µinstructions from the i386 architecture with the i387 floating point unit. This mode is compatible with all CPUs so it's practical to compare very different CPUs
Monothread
i5-2520M
i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
2.69k
2.52k (x0.94)
Test#2 (FP)
7.28k
7.01k (x0.96)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
3.84k
3.77k (x0.98)
Test#1 (Memory)
3.05k
4.22k (x1.38)
TOTAL
16.86k
17.53k (x1.04)

Multithread

i5-2520M

i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
6.08k
9.46k (x1.56)
Test#2 (FP)
16.15k
26.25k (x1.63)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
8.87k
14.1k (x1.59)
Test#1 (Memory)
3.06k
3.13k (x1.02)
TOTAL
34.15k
52.93k (x1.55)

AVX optimized benchmark
The benchmark in mode II (AVX) is optimized to used 256 bits registers beside the first version of the Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX). The first AVX compatible CPU was released in 2011.
Monothread
i5-2520M
i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
9.04k
8.65k (x0.96)
Test#2 (FP)
8.03k
7.8k (x0.97)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
4.06k
3.92k (x0.96)
Test#1 (Memory)
2.99k
4.16k (x1.39)
TOTAL
24.13k
24.53k (x1.02)

Multithread

i5-2520M

i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
19.82k
32.45k (x1.64)
Test#2 (FP)
18.12k
29.25k (x1.61)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
9.23k
14.64k (x1.59)
Test#1 (Memory)
3.06k
3.12k (x1.02)
TOTAL
50.23k
79.46k (x1.58)

Performance/W
i5-2520M
i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
566 points/W
342 points/W
Test#2 (FP)
518 points/W
308 points/W
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
264 points/W
154 points/W
Test#1 (Memory)
88 points/W
33 points/W
TOTAL
1435 points/W
836 points/W

Performance/GHz
i5-2520M
i5-2300
Test#1 (Integers)
2826 points/GHz
2791 points/GHz
Test#2 (FP)
2510 points/GHz
2516 points/GHz
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
1269 points/GHz
1263 points/GHz
Test#1 (Memory)
935 points/GHz
1343 points/GHz
TOTAL
7540 points/GHz
7912 points/GHz

Monothread performance graph
Monothread performance graphics gives the performance vs time. They are useful to measure the time it takes to the CPU to reach the maximum performance.

Usually, CPU's performance will be steady during these tests but if it has a slow frequency strategy, the first samples will show a lower score.


Test#1 (Integers) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#3 (Generic, ZIP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com

Multithread performance graph
Multithread graphs measure the performance against a heavy load during certain time.

If CPU's TDP doesn't limit the frequency and the machine is properly cooled, performance should remain steady vs time. Otherwise, the performance score will oscillate or decrease over time.


Test#1 (Integers) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#3 (Generic, ZIP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com

Hardlimit Benchmark Central - Ver. 3.11.4