Intel Core i5-2310: an excellent processor for the mid-range PC

Despite the fact that Intel Core i5-2310 was released back in 2011, it is still excellent for building mid-level system units. The difference in performance with the more recent chips of this family is not that big, but the price is much lower. It is for these two reasons that such central processing units fit perfectly into the midrange personal computers.

Niche chip

As noted earlier, the Intel Core i5-2310 processor is focused on assembling medium-speed system blocks of personal computers. The computational capabilities of this silicon solution are quite enough to solve almost any problem. This is the most modern toys, and three-dimensional modeling, and development of design projects, and the creation of application software - with any such task, this CPU will cope without any problems. In addition to the hero of our review, this family of semiconductor chips also includes models with the indices 2300 and 2320. Their detailed technical characteristics are given in Table 1. The key difference between them is a different clock frequency. The higher the index, the higher the frequency and the better the speed of the computer system. In the rest it is identical models of central processors.

Table 1. Characteristics of 23хХ series processors

Processor Connector

All chips of this model line are oriented to installation in socket LGA1156. Now, of course, there are more progressive processor connectors from Intel - LGA1150 - and the most fresh in this respect LGA1151. But their cost is significantly higher (both the processor and the motherboard). But the difference in performance between LGA1156 and more recent solutions is not so great. Therefore, the most optimal in this case looks, albeit slightly outdated, but it is LGA1156.

Production technology. Temperature regime and heat package

32nm is a technological process for the production of an Intel Core i5-2310 semiconductor chip. Characteristics The CPU indicates the maximum value of the temperature at 72.6 ° C. In reality, the temperature value in the nominal mode of this CPU does not exceed 53-55 ° C. As was noted earlier, the heat packet is equal to 95 W.

Cash. RAM

The cache memory of this chip consists of 3 levels and has the following capacity:

• 1st level - 256 KB.

• 2nd level - 1 MB.

• 3rd level - 6 MB.

The RAM controller in the Intel Core i5-2310 is integrated into its semiconductor chip. It is dual-channel, it is oriented to work with DDR3 memory. The most preferred are slats with an operating frequency of 1333 MHz - they provide the maximum speed of the system. You can also install faster modules in such a PC, but their results above 1333 MHz will not be able to rise. System logic precisely this value limits the working frequency of RAM. The maximum size of addressable RAM in this situation is 32 GB.

Possible clock frequencies

Like Intel Core i5-2300, the hero of this review supports the technology of dynamic frequency change. Depending on the load, the number of computational units involved and the temperature of the silicon crystal, its value can vary in the range from 2.9 GHz to 3.2 GHz. This is the so-called Turbo Bust technology from Intel. At frequencies of 2.9-3.0 GHz, 3-4 cores operate. When the frequency becomes 3.1 GHz, only 2 computation blocks remain in operation. Well and at 3,2 GHz in an active mode there is only one computing module.

Architecture

Intel Core i5-2310 belongs to the Sandy Bridge CPU family. This is the second generation of semiconductor crystals based on Intel's Core architecture. This model includes 4 full-fledged computing cores. In turn, technology such as Hyper Trading is not supported in this situation and at the software level we get all the same 4 information processing flows.

Integrated graphics system

As in the case of Intel Core i5-2300, this model of the CPU is equipped with an integrated graphics accelerator of entry level - HD Graphics 2000. Its operating frequencies can vary in the range from 0.85 GHz to 1.1 GHz. The maximum number of screens of monitors that can be connected to such a personal computer is 2. The level of its performance in this case is minimal, which is enough only to solve the least demanding tasks: office software, Internet resources, video playback and simple toys.

Results of the review. Cost

Undoubtedly, Intel Core i5-2310 is one of the best processor devices for building a mid-level system unit. It has a full 4 cores and a sufficient level of performance. In comparison, with the more recent chips of this manufacturer, it stands out against their background a lower cost - about 4000-5000 rubles from stock, and even in a completely new condition. At the same time, their energy efficiency and productivity are almost identical. Therefore, this processor, which is slightly out of date, looks more preferable in terms of purchasing, which also boasts a higher degree of reliability due to improved thermal grease against the background of direct competitors.