AMD Athlon II X2 270 vs Intel Core i5-2500K

Comparative analysis of AMD Athlon II X2 270 and Intel Core i5-2500K processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Graphics, Graphics interfaces, Peripherals, 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 270

Intel Core i5-2500K

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X2 270

CPU is newer: launch date 5 month(s) later
Around 46% lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 95 Watt

Launch date	July 2011 vs January 2011
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 95 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i5-2500K

Processor is unlocked, an unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking
2 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 2
Around 9% higher clock speed: 3.70 GHz vs 3.4 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 32 nm vs 45 nm
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 25% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1698 vs 1363
3.1x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 4129 vs 1316
2x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 806 vs 396
3.6x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 2657 vs 737

Specifications (specs)
Unlocked	Unlocked vs Locked
Number of cores	4 vs 2
Maximum frequency	3.70 GHz vs 3.4 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm vs 45 nm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1698 vs 1363
PassMark - CPU mark	4129 vs 1316
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	806 vs 396
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	2657 vs 737

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Athlon II X2 270
CPU 2: Intel Core i5-2500K

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1363

1698

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1316

4129

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

396

806

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

737

2657

Name	AMD Athlon II X2 270	Intel Core i5-2500K
PassMark - Single thread mark	1363	1698
PassMark - CPU mark	1316	4129
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	396	806
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	737	2657
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		1575
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		3.325
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		78.071
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.384
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		1.818
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		4.627

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Athlon II X2 270	Intel Core i5-2500K
Essentials
Architecture codename	Regor	Sandy Bridge
Launch date	July 2011	January 2011
Launch price (MSRP)	$100	$289
Place in performance rating	2423	2447
Price now	$23.99	$123.99
Value for money (0-100)	24.32	15.38
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Processor Number		i5-2500K
Series		Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status		Discontinued
Performance
64 bit support
Die size	117 mm	216 mm
L1 cache	128 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	1024 KB	256 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	32 nm
Maximum frequency	3.4 GHz	3.70 GHz
Number of cores	2	4
Transistor count	410 million	1160 million
Base frequency		3.30 GHz
Bus Speed		5 GT/s DMI
L3 cache		6144 KB (shared)
Maximum core temperature		72.6°C
Number of threads		4
Unlocked
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR2, DDR3	DDR3 1066/1333
Max memory channels		2
Maximum memory bandwidth		21 GB/s
Maximum memory size		32 GB
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Sockets supported	AM3	LGA1155
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	95 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		37.5mm x 37.5mm
Graphics
Device ID		0x112
Graphics base frequency		850 MHz
Graphics max dynamic frequency		1.10 GHz
Graphics max frequency		1.1 GHz
Intel® Clear Video HD technology
Intel® Flexible Display Interface (Intel® FDI)
Intel® InTru™ 3D technology
Intel® Quick Sync Video
Processor graphics		Intel® HD Graphics 3000
Graphics interfaces
Number of displays supported		2
Wireless Display (WiDi) support
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes		16
PCI Express revision		2.0
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Flexible Display interface (FDI)
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
Intel 64
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Fast Memory Access
Intel® Flex Memory Access
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)