Intel Core 2 Duo E6540 vs AMD Athlon II X2 260u

Comparative analysis of Intel Core 2 Duo E6540 and AMD Athlon II X2 260u processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Memory. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6540

AMD Athlon II X2 260u

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Core 2 Duo E6540

Around 35% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 969 vs 716
Around 13% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 808 vs 713

Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	969 vs 716
PassMark - CPU mark	808 vs 713

Reasons to consider the AMD Athlon II X2 260u

A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 65 nm
2.6x lower typical power consumption: 25 Watt vs 65 Watt

Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 65 nm
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	25 Watt vs 65 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Core 2 Duo E6540
CPU 2: AMD Athlon II X2 260u

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

969

716

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

808

713

Name	Intel Core 2 Duo E6540	AMD Athlon II X2 260u
PassMark - Single thread mark	969	716
PassMark - CPU mark	808	713
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		1119
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		1882

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Core 2 Duo E6540	AMD Athlon II X2 260u
Essentials
Architecture codename	Conroe	Regor
Launch date	Q3'07	October 2009
Place in performance rating	2329	2326
Processor Number	E6540
Series	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status	Discontinued
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$83
Price now		$83.44
Value for money (0-100)		3.90
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.33 GHz
Bus Speed	1333 MHz FSB
Die size	143 mm2	117 mm
Manufacturing process technology	65 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	72°C
Number of cores	2	2
Transistor count	291 million	410 million
VID voltage range	0.8500V-1.5V
L1 cache		128 KB
L2 cache		1024 KB
Maximum frequency		1.8 GHz
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size	37.5mm x 37.5mm
Sockets supported	PLGA775	AM3
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	25 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
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
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Memory
Supported memory types		DDR3