Comparing Core i5-3210M with i5-2450M

Core i5-2450M has been a highly successful notebook processor for Intel during the 2011 and the first half of 2012. There are still a lot of notebooks that come with this processor.

The Core i5-3210M is the newer processor that brings with it, among other improvements a better Integrated Graphics. This belongs to the Intel's newest Ivy Bridge series of processors - while the Core i5-2450M belongs to the earlier Sandy Bridge processor. Let us understand the difference between them with the help of the question and answers.

Question - So which of these two processors is faster from CPU perspective.
Answer - The newer Ivy Bridge Core i5-3210M is no doubt faster. From CPU perspective you will see slight gain in perfpormance when running CPU load heavy processes.

Question - What are clock frequencies of these two processors ?
Answer - Both are clocked identically at 2.50 GHz. Both have two cores and 4 Hyperthreads.

Question - How does a faster processor affect me ?
Answer - It should not make difference in daily computing. In reality you should see no perceptible difference for processes that takes less than few seconds to complete.

Question - How about the Graphics ?
Answer - The Ivy Bridge's HD Graphics 4000 ( the name of the integrated graphics in the i5-3210M) makes a huge difference. It is 50% faster than the Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 3000 in the i5-2450M.

Question - How does improved graphics benefit me.

Answer - It will not affect you in normal tasks. But if you are opening multiple videos and switch between these windows the better graphics makes it a bit zippy. The main difference will be in fast moving games where you will find Ivy Bridge giving better frame per seconds reducing stuttering.

Core i7-3520M compared to i5-3210M

Here is the FAQ regarding the i7-3520M Vs i5-3210M Comparison

Q. Which of these two processors is faster ?
 A.  The quick answer is that Core i7-3520M is faster than the Core i5-3210M.

Q. OK. Is it because the Core i7-3520M is quad core ?
A. Not it is not. Both the processors are dual core. Often people confuse that Core i7 is a quad core. This is true for most of the core i7s but not the Core i7-3520M.

Q. OK. Then its should be possible to compare them by clock frequencies.
A. That is true. The Core    i7-3520M is clocked at 2.9 GHz Vs 2.50 GHz of  i5-3210M. If you look at it theoretically - then the i7-3520M is faster by (2.9 - 2.5) x 100% / 2.5 =  16% faster. This is substantial.

Q. I Heard that it is an Ivy Bridge processor ?
A. Yes that is correct. Both of these are Ivy Bridge processor, which is a successor of the Sandy Bridge processor. Intel made architetural improvements in the Ivy Bridge which makes its processor faster by 10% for the same clock as compared to the Sandy Bridge processor.

Ivy Bridge referefs to the architecture. There are a large number of notebook and desktop processors under Ivy Bridge.

The Ivy Bridge also comes with integrated graphics - called HD Graphics 4000 which has improved by a whopping 50% in performance as compared to the previous generation HD Graphics 3000 in the Sandy Bridge.

Q. But is not HD Graphics 4000 in both these processors ?
A. Yes that is true. Both benefit by the improved HD Graphics.