Intel Core2 Duo E6540 vs Intel Core i5-3450

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core2 Duo E6540 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i5-3450
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core i5-3450

CPU comparison

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 or Intel Core i5-3450 - 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 Intel Core2 Duo E6540 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.33 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core2 Duo E6540 was released in Q3/2007.

The Intel Core i5-3450 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-3450 was released in Q2/2012.
Intel Core2 Duo (29) Family Intel Core i5 (331)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4000/E6000 (15) CPU group Intel Core i 3000 (31)
1 Generation 3
Conroe (Core) Architecture Ivy Bridge S
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core2 Duo E6540 has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core2 Duo E6540 is 2.33 GHz while the Intel Core i5-3450 has 4 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-3450 is at 3.10 GHz (3.50 GHz).

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Characteristic Intel Core i5-3450
2 Cores 4
2 Threads 4
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
2.33 GHz Frequency 3.10 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.50 GHz
-- 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.

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Characteristic Intel Core i5-3450
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core2 Duo E6540 or Intel Core i5-3450 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

no iGPU GPU Intel HD Graphics 2500
GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.10 GHz
-- GPU Generation 7
Technology 22 nm
Max. displays 3
-- Compute units 6
-- Shader 48
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 11.0

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.

no iGPU GPU Intel HD Graphics 2500
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core2 Duo E6540 can use up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 21.3 GB/s. The Intel Core i5-3450 supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Characteristic Intel Core i5-3450
DDR3-1333, DDR2-1066 Memory DDR3-1600
16 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
21.3 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
4.00 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 6.00 MB
-- PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 16
-- PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core2 Duo E6540 is 65 W, while the Intel Core i5-3450 has a TDP of 77 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Characteristic Intel Core i5-3450
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 77 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core2 Duo E6540 is manufactured in 65 nm and has 4.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i5-3450 is manufactured in 22 nm and has a 6.00 MB cache.

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Characteristic Intel Core i5-3450
65 nm Technology 22 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
LGA 775 Socket LGA 1155
VT-x Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT
No AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q3/2007 Release date Q2/2012
-- Release price 195 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core2 Duo E6540 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-3450 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 (46%)
Intel Core i5-3450 (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 (22%)
Intel Core i5-3450 (100%)

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.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
342 (46%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
749 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
625 (25%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
2483 (100%)

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.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
793 (18%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
4480 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-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 single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
694 (100%)

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.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
1966 (100%)

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.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
Intel HD Graphics 2500 @ 1.10 GHz
106 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core2 Duo E6540
2C 2T @ 2.33 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3450
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
1303 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core2 Duo E6540 Intel Core i5-3450
Unknown Unknown

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. Intel Core i5-3450Intel Core i7-3770 Intel Core i5-3450 vs Intel Core i7-3770
2. AMD Ryzen 5 3500UIntel Core i5-3450 AMD Ryzen 5 3500U vs Intel Core i5-3450
3. Intel Core i5-3570Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3570 vs Intel Core i5-3450
4. AMD Ryzen 3 2200GIntel Core i5-3450 AMD Ryzen 3 2200G vs Intel Core i5-3450
5. AMD Ryzen 5 3600Intel Core i5-3450 AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs Intel Core i5-3450
6. AMD Ryzen 5 2600Intel Core i5-3450 AMD Ryzen 5 2600 vs Intel Core i5-3450
7. Intel Core i5-3550Intel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3550 vs Intel Core i5-3450
8. Intel Core i5-3450Intel Core i3-10100 Intel Core i5-3450 vs Intel Core i3-10100
9. Intel Core i5-3350PIntel Core i5-3450 Intel Core i5-3350P vs Intel Core i5-3450
10. Intel Core i5-3450Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3 Intel Core i5-3450 vs Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3


back to index