Intel Core i5-6300U vs Intel Core i5-2520M

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-6300U CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i5-2520M
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-2520M

CPU comparison

Intel Core i5-6300U or Intel Core i5-2520M - 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 i5-6300U has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.00 GHz. Up to 32 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-6300U was released in Q3/2015.

The Intel Core i5-2520M has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-2520M was released in Q1/2011.
Intel Core i5 (334) Family Intel Core i5 (334)
Intel Core i 6000U (20) CPU group Intel Core i 2000M (46)
6 Generation 2
Skylake U Architecture Sandy Bridge H
Notebook Segment Notebook
-- Predecessor --
Intel Core i5-7300U Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i5-6300U has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-6300U is 2.40 GHz (3.00 GHz) while the Intel Core i5-2520M has 2 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-2520M is at 2.50 GHz (3.20 GHz).

Intel Core i5-6300U Characteristic Intel Core i5-2520M
2 Cores 2
4 Threads 4
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
2.40 GHz Frequency 2.50 GHz
3.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.20 GHz
2.60 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 3.20 GHz

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Intel Core i5-6300U Characteristic Intel Core i5-2520M
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Intel Core i5-6300U or Intel Core i5-2520M 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 520 GPU Intel HD Graphics 3000
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
0.95 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.30 GHz
9 GPU Generation 6
14 nm Technology 32 nm
3 Max. displays 2
24 Compute units 12
192 Shader 96
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
12 DirectX Version 10.1

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

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i5-6300U can use up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 34.1 GB/s. The Intel Core i5-2520M supports up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 21.3 GB/s.

Intel Core i5-6300U Characteristic Intel Core i5-2520M
LPDDR3-1866, DDR4-2133, DDR3L-1600 Memory DDR3-1333
32 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
34.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 21.3 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
3.00 MB L3 Cache 3.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 2.0
12 PCIe lanes 16
11.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 8.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i5-6300U is 15 W, while the Intel Core i5-2520M has a TDP of 35 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i5-6300U Characteristic Intel Core i5-2520M
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 35 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
25 W TDP up --
7.5 W TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i5-6300U is manufactured in 14 nm and has 3.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i5-2520M is manufactured in 32 nm and has a 3.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i5-6300U Characteristic Intel Core i5-2520M
14 nm Technology 32 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
BGA 1356 Socket PPGA 988
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q3/2015 Release date Q1/2011
281 $ Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-6300U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.7 stars (26 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i5-2520M to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.6 stars (14 ratings). Rate now:

Average performance in benchmarks

Single core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i5-6300U (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M (74%)
Multi core performance in 5 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i5-6300U (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M (75%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a partial load benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. In the single-core test, only the fastest CPU core is measured. The test run simulates the performance in practice.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
967 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
549 (57%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

The practical Geekbench 6 multi-core benchmark tests the system's performance under partial load. The processor's maximum power consumption is far from being used up.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
2021 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
1162 (57%)

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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
710 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
596 (84%)

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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1364 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
1339 (98%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
299 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
190 (64%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
739 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
491 (66%)

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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
Intel HD Graphics 520 @ 0.95 GHz
365 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
Intel HD Graphics 3000 @ 1.30 GHz
250 (68%)

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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
3271 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
2230 (68%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
272 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
248 (91%)

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 i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
811 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 2.50 GHz
709 (87%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
46 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
115 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
777 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1834 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1179.4 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
127 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-6300U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
281 (100%)
Intel Core i5-2520M Intel Core i5-2520M
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i5-6300U Intel Core i5-2520M
Unknown Unknown

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