Intel Core i5-2500K vs Intel Core i3-3240

Intel Core i5-2500K
Intel Socket 1155DESKTOP
3300 MHz / Cores: 4 / Jan 2011
Intel Core i5-2500K
Intel Core i3-3240
Intel Socket 1155DESKTOP
3400 MHz / Cores: 2 / Sep 2012
Intel Core i3-3240

Summary

Synthetic performance index

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    147%
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    100%

Relative performance

Single thread performance index

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    118%
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    100%

Relative performance

Multi thread performance index

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    177%
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    100%

Relative performance

Reasons to consider Intel Core i5-2500K

18% higher single threaded performance.
Much higher multi threaded performance (around 77% higher). This allows for higher performance in professional applications like encoding or heavy multitasking.
Around 47% higher average synthetic performance.

Reasons to consider Intel Core i3-3240

40 watts lower power draw.
This is a newer product, it might have better application compatibility/performance (check features chart below).

Intel Core i5-2500K

Gaming

HWBench recommends Intel Core i5-2500K

Based on game and synthetic benchmarks, and theoretical specifications.

Intel Core i5-2500K

Productivity

HWBench recommends Intel Core i5-2500K

Based on productivity benchmarks, overall multithreaded performance and theoretical specifications.


Specifications

Features

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
MMX
SSE
SSE2
SSE3
SSSE3
SSE4.2
AVX
EIST
Intel 64
XD bit
VT-x
AES-NI
Hyper-Threading
TXT

Architecture

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
ArchitectureIntel_SandyBridgevsIntel_IvyBridge
MarketDesktopvsDesktop
Memory SupportDDR3vsDDR3
CodenameSandy BridgevsIvy Bridge
Release DateJan 2011vsSep 2012

Cores

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
Cores4vs2
Threads4vs4
SMPs1vs1
Integrated GraphicsIntel HD 3000vsIntel HD 2500

Cache

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
L1 Cache64 KB (per core)vs64 KB (per core)
L2 Cache256 KB (per core)vs256 KB (per core)
L3 Cache6144 KB (shared)vs3072 KB (shared)

Physical

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
SocketIntel Socket 1155vsIntel Socket 1155
Max Case Tempunknownvs65°C
PackageFC-LGA10vsFC-LGA12C
Die Size216mm²vs94mm²
Process32 nmvs22 nm

Performance

Intel Core i5-2500KIntel Core i3-3240
Cpu Frequency3300 MHzvs3400 MHz
Turbo Clock3700 MHzvsnone
Base Clock100 MHzvs100 MHz
Voltageunknownvsunknown
TDP95 Wvs55 W

Raw performance index

Raw single-thread performance estimation

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    3700 points
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    3502 points

Points - higher is better

Raw multi-thread performance estimation

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    13200 points
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    8404 points

Points - higher is better

Synthetic benchmarks

GeekBench 3 (32-bit Multi Core)

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    10235
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    5472

points - higher is better

GeekBench 3 (64-bit Single Core)

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    3486
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    2754

points - higher is better

GeekBench 3 (64-bit Multi Core)

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    11233
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    5609

points - higher is better

GeekBench 3 (32-bit Single Core)

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    3215
  • Intel Core i3-3240
    2514

points - higher is better

Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    122
  • Intel Core i3-3240 (simulated)
    121.18

points - higher is better

Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit

  • Intel Core i5-2500K
    470
  • Intel Core i3-3240 (simulated)
    323.97

points - higher is better