AMD Athlon II X2 250 vs Intel Pentium D 915

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X2 250 and Intel Pentium D 915 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 Pentium D 915

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X2 250

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 11 month(s) later
Around 7% higher clock speed: 3 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
9.1x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 46% lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 95 Watt
2.3x better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1198 vs 532
2.5x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 1165 vs 459
Around 99% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 357 vs 179
2.1x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 642 vs 307

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	June 2009 vs July 2006
Maximum frequency	3 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 65 nm
L1 cache	256 KB vs 28 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 95 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1198 vs 532
PassMark - CPU mark	1165 vs 459
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	357 vs 179
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	642 vs 307

Reasons to consider the Intel Pentium D 915

2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later

L2 cache	4096 KB vs 2048 KB
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2 vs 1

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X2 250
CPU 2: Intel Pentium D 915

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1198

532

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1165

459

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

357

179

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

642

307

Name	AMD Athlon II X2 250	Intel Pentium D 915
PassMark - Single thread mark	1198	532
PassMark - CPU mark	1165	459
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	357	179
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	642	307
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 Pentium D 915
Essentials
Architecture codename	Regor	Presler
Launch date	June 2009	July 2006
Launch price (MSRP)	$39
Place in performance rating	3194	3183
Price now	$189.95
Value for money (0-100)	2.70
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Processor Number		915
Series		Legacy Intel® Pentium® Processor
Status		Discontinued
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	117 mm	162 mm2
L1 cache	256 KB	28 KB
L2 cache	2048 KB	4096 KB
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	65 nm
Maximum frequency	3 GHz	2.8 GHz
Number of cores	2	2
Transistor count	410 million	376 million
Base frequency		2.80 GHz
Bus Speed		800 MHz FSB
Maximum core temperature		63.4°C
VID voltage range		1.200V-1.3375V
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	2
Sockets supported	AM3	PLGA775
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	95 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		37.5mm x 37.5mm
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
FSB parity
Idle States
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		32-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)