Intel Core i5-5300U vs Intel Core i5-2450M

Intel Core i5-5300U

The Intel Core i5-5300U is an ULV (ultra low voltage) dual-core processor based on the Broadwell architecture, which has been launched in January 2015. In addition to two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading clocked at 2.3 - 2.9 GHz (2 Cores: 2.7 GHz), the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 5500 GPU and a dual-channel DDR3(L)-1600 memory controller. The Core i5 is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to the Core i5-5350U, the i5-5300U features a higher CPU base clock, but integrates a somewhat slower GPU.

Architecture

Broadwell represents the "Tick" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, which means a shrink of its predecessor Haswell. The new 14 nm manufacturing process with three-dimensional FinFET transistors allows not only improvements in energy efficiency, but also a significantly smaller die size fit for more compact packages and devices.

Further advantages result from the revised microarchitecture of Broadwell. Due to its improved branch prediction, bigger buffer sizes (1500 instead of 1000 entries in the L2 TLB) and other tweaks, the performance per clock has been increased by more than 5 percent over its predecessor. There are also some new instruction set extensions designed for cryptographic applications.

Performance

Thanks to its improved architecture, the Core i5-5300U ends up 5 - 15 percent faster than the slightly lower clocked Core i5-4300U and beats the Core i7-4510U (both Haswell). Thus, the CPU has sufficient power for office and multimedia purposes as well as more demanding applications and multitasking.

Graphics

The integrated HD Graphics 5500 offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 300 - 900 MHz. Similar to the CPU core, the GPU architecture (Intel Gen 8) has been thoroughly revised for improved performance-per-clock. Therefore, the HD Graphics 5500 is able to outperform the HD Graphics 4400 (20 EUs) as well as the HD Graphics 5000 (40 EUs), both part of the Haswell generation. Nevertheless, most games as of 2015 will be playable only in low settings.

Broadwell is the first Intel chip to fully support DirectX 11.2 as well as OpenCL 1.3/2.0 and OpenGL 4.3. Video will output natively via DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a. However, the new HDMI 2.0 standard is not supported.

Power Consumption

The i5-5300U is rated at a TDP of 15 W (7.5 W cTDP Down) including the graphics card, memory controller, VRMs and the integrated chipset. Therefore, the CPU is suited even for small ultrabooks 11-inches and greater.

Intel Core i5-2450M

The Intel Core i5-2450M is a fast dual core processor that first appeared in Dell laptops in 11/2011. It is based on the Sandy Bridge architecture and offers Hyperthreading to handle 4 threads at once (for a better usage of the pipeline). Compared to the faster Core i7, the i5 offers a smaller last level cache of 3MB. The base clock speed is 2.5 GHz but due to Turbo Boost it can reach 2.8 GHz (2 cores active) and 3.1 GHz (1 core active). Compared to the 2510M, the 2450M does not support VT-d and Trusted Execution functions. However, the integrated gpu offers a higher Turbo Boost clock rate.

Sandy Bridge is the evolutionary successor of the Arrandale architecture. The most noteable improvements is the improved Turbo Boost 2.0 and the integration of the graphics card into the 32nm CPU core. 

The i5-2450M offers an integrated graphics card (Intel HD Graphics 3000) which is clearly faster then the older Intel HD Graphics in the Arrandale CPUs. As the new GPU is included in the CPU, it is also manufactured in 32nm and shares the fast level 3 cache with the CPU cores (using a new ring bus). In the 2435M it is clocked with  650 or 1300MHz (with Turbo Boost).

Furthermore, an improved dual-channel DDR3 memory controller is included on the CPU die that is used by the CPU and GPU part.

Due to the improved architecture and the new Turbo Boost 2.0, the average performance of the Core i5-2450M is higher than a similar clocked Arrandale Core i5. Looking at benchmarks of slower clocked Core i5 CPUs, the i5-2450M should position itself slightly above the old Core i5-620M and is therefore suited even for demanding tasks.

The 35W TDP rating includes the integrated GPU and memory controller.