The Intel Core i5-450M is a dual-core laptop CPU and clocks (due to Turbo Boost) with max. 2.4 - 2.66 GHz. Both cores are based on the Nehalem (Westmere) micro-architecture and due to Hyperthreading the processor is able to work with 4 threads simultaneously. The performance of the i5 is in the mid-range. The i5-450M is similar to the Core i5-520M, but the 450M does not offer AES functions.
A feature of the new Core i5-450M is the integrated graphics card called GMA HD and memory controller. Both are on a separate die that is still manufactured in 45nm whereas the CPU die is already manufactured in the new 32nm process.
The performance of the i5 450M is on average faster than a Core 2 Duo T9500 and due to the Turbo Boost, single threaded applications run even better. Therefore, the Core i5-520M is as fast as high clocked Core 2 Duo CPUs and should handle most gaming and multimedia tasks well.
The integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (GMA HD) graphics card is known to be clocked up to 500-766 MHz and should be clearly faster than the old GMA 4500MHD. A GeForce 9400M (ION) should still be a faster (especially as Nvidia and ATI cards have a better driver support than Intel up to now). According to rumors, the GMA core will also use the Turbo Mode regulate the clock speed.
The power consumption of 35 Watt TDP (max.) counts for the whole package and therefore it is clearly better than the 35 Watt TDP of the Core 2 Duo T-series (CPU alone). Due to the Turbo Boost, the Core i5 more likely uses the TDP under load than the older Core 2 Duo CPUs. Without any load, the i5 uses noticable less power.
The Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 is a low power laptop processor for small and slim laptops. It features the full 6 MB level 2 cache and all features of the Penryn core (e.g. VT-x and Trusted Execution). Due to the large cache, the CPU shows a good performance for the small clock rate. However, in the MacBook Air, the CPU throttled very often, leading to the slower benchmarks in our database.
Compared to other Core 2 Duo models, the C2D SL9600 only supports the socket BGA956 and is soldered in the MacBook Air models.
The Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 is a CULV laptop processor for small and light laptops. Due to the small clock speed, the CPU is specified with a TDP of only 10 Watt. For non demanding tasks, the performance of both cores is sufficient. Many laptops with the SU7300 feature an overclocking option to run the CPU at higher clock rates (e.g. 1.7 GHz in the Asus UL series). Compared to the Atom series, the SU7300 is signifantly faster.
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 → 76%n=11
Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 → 62%n=11
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card - Average benchmark values for this graphics card * Smaller numbers mean a higher performance 1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
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