AMD Athlon II X2 250 vs Intel Atom 230

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X2 250 and Intel Atom 230 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

AMD Athlon II X2 250

Intel Atom 230

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X2 250

CPU is newer: launch date 1 year(s) 3 month(s) later
1 more cores, run more applications at once: 2 vs 1
Around 88% higher clock speed: 3 GHz vs 1.6 GHz
4x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
4x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
6.5x better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1197 vs 185
6.9x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 1160 vs 169
Around 16% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 642 vs 552

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	June 2009 vs 1 March 2008
Number of cores	2 vs 1
Maximum frequency	3 GHz vs 1.6 GHz
L1 cache	256 KB vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2048 KB vs 512 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1197 vs 185
PassMark - CPU mark	1160 vs 169
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	642 vs 552

Reasons to consider the Intel Atom 230

16.3x lower typical power consumption: 4 Watt vs 65 Watt
Around 22% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 436 vs 357

Specifications (specs)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	4 Watt vs 65 Watt
Benchmarks
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	436 vs 357

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X2 250
CPU 2: Intel Atom 230

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1197

185

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1160

169

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

357

436

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

642

552

Name	AMD Athlon II X2 250	Intel Atom 230
PassMark - Single thread mark	1197	185
PassMark - CPU mark	1160	169
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	357	436
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	642	552
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score	0
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	0.343
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	5.142
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	0.089
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	0.184
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	1.714

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon II X2 250	Intel Atom 230
Essentials
Architecture codename	Regor	Diamondville
Launch date	June 2009	1 March 2008
Launch price (MSRP)	$39
Place in performance rating	3193	3219
Price now	$189.95
Value for money (0-100)	2.70
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Processor Number		230
Series		Legacy Intel Atom® Processors
Status		Discontinued
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	117 mm	26 mm2
L1 cache	256 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2048 KB	512 KB
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	45 nm
Maximum frequency	3 GHz	1.6 GHz
Number of cores	2	1
Transistor count	410 million	47 million
Base frequency		1.60 GHz
Bus Speed		533 MHz FSB
Front-side bus (FSB)		533 MHz
Maximum core temperature		85.2°C
Number of threads		2
VID voltage range		0.9V-1.1625V
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR3
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	AM3	PBGA437
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	4 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		22mm x 22mm
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
FSB parity
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3
Intel 64
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)