Apple A5 vs AMD Phenom II X2 521

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A5 CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD Phenom II X2 521
Apple A5 AMD Phenom II X2 521

CPU comparison

Apple A5 or AMD Phenom II X2 521 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Apple A5 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.00 GHz. Up to 1 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple A5 was released in Q1/2011.

The AMD Phenom II X2 521 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Phenom II X2 521 was released in Q2/2011.
Apple A series (22) Family AMD Phenom II (52)
Apple A5/A5X (2) CPU group AMD Phenom II - 500 (2)
5 Generation 1
A5 Architecture Regor (K10)
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
Apple A6 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A5 is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz. The AMD Phenom II X2 521 has 2 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.50 GHz.
Apple A5 Characteristic AMD Phenom II X2 521
2 Cores 2
2 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? Yes
1.00 GHz Frequency 3.50 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (1 Core) --
-- Turbo Frequency (All Cores) --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.
Apple A5 Characteristic AMD Phenom II X2 521
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) GPU no iGPU
0.20 GHz GPU frequency --
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation --
32 nm Technology
1 Max. displays
4 Compute units --
32 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory --
10 DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) GPU no iGPU
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
No Codec h264 No
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC No
No Codec VC-1 No
No Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A5 supports a maximum of 1 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The AMD Phenom II X2 521 can connect up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels.
Apple A5 Characteristic AMD Phenom II X2 521
LPDDR2-800 Memory DDR3-1333, DDR2-1066
1 GB Max. Memory
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
6.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 21.3 GB/s
No ECC No
1.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 2.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple A5 has a TDP of --, that of the AMD Phenom II X2 521 is 65 W.
Apple A5 Characteristic AMD Phenom II X2 521
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) 65 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A5 has a 1.00 MB cache, while the AMD Phenom II X2 521 cache has a total of 2.00 MB.
Apple A5 Characteristic AMD Phenom II X2 521
32 nm Technology 45 nm
Chiplet Chip design Unknown
Armv7-A (32 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE3, SSE4a
-- Socket AM3
None Virtualization AMD-V
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2011 Release date Q2/2011
-- Release price 35 $
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Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
496 (100%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Apple A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
267 (100%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Apple A5 Apple A5
PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) @ 0.20 GHz
13 (100%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Apple A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
2253 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
92 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
AMD Phenom II X2 521 AMD Phenom II X2 521
2C 2T @ 3.50 GHz
177 (100%)

Devices using this processor
Apple A5 AMD Phenom II X2 521
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPad 2
 Unknown

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