Intel Core i5-2540M vs AMD EPYC 74F3

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-2540M CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD EPYC 74F3
Intel Core i5-2540M AMD EPYC 74F3

CPU comparison

Intel Core i5-2540M or AMD EPYC 74F3 - 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 Core i5-2540M has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.30 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-2540M was released in Q1/2011.

The AMD EPYC 74F3 has 24 cores with 48 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 4096 GB of memory in 8 memory channels. The AMD EPYC 74F3 was released in Q1/2021.
Intel Core i5 (328) Family AMD EPYC (111)
Intel Core i 2000M (46) CPU group AMD EPYC 7003 (23)
2 Generation 3
Sandy Bridge H Architecture Milan (Zen 3)
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i5-2540M has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-2540M is 2.60 GHz (3.30 GHz) while the AMD EPYC 74F3 has 24 CPU cores and 48 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the AMD EPYC 74F3 is at 3.20 GHz (4.00 GHz).

Intel Core i5-2540M Characteristic AMD EPYC 74F3
2 Cores 24
4 Threads 48
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
2.60 GHz Frequency 3.20 GHz
3.30 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 4.00 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 3.80 GHz

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 Core i5-2540M Characteristic AMD EPYC 74F3
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i5-2540M or AMD EPYC 74F3 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.

Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU no iGPU
0.65 GHz GPU frequency --
1.30 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation --
32 nm Technology
2 Max. displays
12 Compute units --
96 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory --
10.1 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.

Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU no iGPU
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
No Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i5-2540M can use up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 21.3 GB/s. The AMD EPYC 74F3 supports up to 4096 GB of memory in 8 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 51.2 GB/s.

Intel Core i5-2540M Characteristic AMD EPYC 74F3
DDR3-1333 Memory DDR4-3200
16 GB Max. Memory 4096 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 8 (Octa Channel)
21.3 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC Yes
-- L2 Cache --
3.00 MB L3 Cache 256.00 MB
2.0 PCIe version 4.0
16 PCIe lanes 128
8.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 252.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i5-2540M is 35 W, while the AMD EPYC 74F3 has a TDP of 240 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i5-2540M Characteristic AMD EPYC 74F3
35 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 240 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 225 W
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i5-2540M is manufactured in 32 nm and has 3.00 MB cache. The AMD EPYC 74F3 is manufactured in 7 nm and has a 256.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i5-2540M Characteristic AMD EPYC 74F3
32 nm Technology 7 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3
BGA 1023 Socket SP3
VT-x, VT-x EPT Virtualization AMD-V, SVM
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2011 Release date Q1/2021
269 $ Release price 2900 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks

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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 3.30 GHz
615 (43%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 4.00 GHz
1436 (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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1414 (5%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 3.80 GHz
27866 (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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 3.30 GHz
559 (30%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 4.00 GHz
1864 (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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1216 (7%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 3.80 GHz
16985 (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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
2326 (4%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 3.80 GHz
60582 (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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
Intel HD Graphics 3000 @ 1.30 GHz
250 (100%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

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 Core i5-2540M Intel Core i5-2540M
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
723 (100%)
AMD EPYC 74F3 AMD EPYC 74F3
24C 48T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i5-2540M AMD EPYC 74F3
Unknown Unknown

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