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Intel Core i5-2390T

Intel Core i5-2390T: A Review of an Outdated Processor for Niche Tasks in 2025

Sandy Bridge Architecture, 2 Cores / 4 Threads, TDP 35W — Is It Worth Considering Today?

1. Key Specifications: Sandy Bridge in Miniature

The Intel Core i5-2390T, released in 2011, belongs to the Sandy Bridge architecture era (2nd generation Core). It was Intel's first mass-market platform with an integrated graphics core (Intel HD Graphics 2000) on the chip.

- Manufacturing Process: 32 nm. By comparison, modern processors (2025) use 5–7 nm.

- Cores and Threads: 2 Cores / 4 Threads. Base frequency — 2.7 GHz, Turbo Boost — up to 3.5 GHz.

- Graphics: Intel HD 2000 with a frequency of 650–1100 MHz. Supports DirectX 10.1 and 4K output via DisplayPort (but not HDMI).

- Key Features: Turbo Boost 2.0, Hyper-Threading, VT-x virtualization.

Performance:

- In Geekbench 6 (2025): Single-Core — 563, Multi-Core — 1108. For comparison, the budget Intel Core i3-14100 (2024) scores 1800/5500.

- In real-world tasks:

- Web browsing, office applications — acceptable.

- 4K video on YouTube — lagging due to lack of hardware decoding for VP9/AV1.

- Gaming: only older titles (e.g., CS:GO on low settings — 30–40 FPS).

2. Compatible Motherboards: Hunting for Rare Finds

The processor socket is LGA 1155, supported by chipsets:

- H61, B65, H67, Q67, Z68.

2025 Selection Features:

- New Boards: Virtually no longer produced. A few units on Amazon/Aliexpress cost $120–200 (e.g., ASUS P8H61-M LE).

- Used Market: Boards in good condition — $30–60. But there’s a risk of buying a device with swollen capacitors.

- Compatibility: BIOS updates can be problematic — many boards do not support Ivy Bridge CPUs.

Tip: If building a system from scratch, it’s cheaper to buy a complete PC with an i5-2390T on eBay for $50–100 than to search for a new motherboard.

3. Supported Memory: Only DDR3

The processor works with DDR3-1066/1333 MHz in dual-channel mode. The maximum volume is 32 GB (theoretically), but most motherboards are limited to 16 GB.

Issues in 2025:

- No support for DDR4/DDR5 — this is a "bottleneck" for performance.

- New DDR3 modules (16 GB) are expensive: $50–70 for a 2x8 GB kit.

Recommendation: Use an SSD instead of an HDD to compensate for slow memory.

4. Power Supply: Minimum Watts, Maximum Reliability

With a TDP of 35W, the processor is extremely energy-efficient.

- Power Supply Rating: Even for a system with a GT 1030 level graphics card, 300–400W is sufficient.

- Examples:

- Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 400W ($60) — quiet, with an 80 Plus Bronze certification.

- For systems without discrete graphics, a budget EVGA 450 BR ($45) will suffice.

Important: Don’t skimp on the PSU — older motherboards are sensitive to voltage fluctuations.

5. Pros and Cons: Who Is It Suitable for in 2025?

Pros:

- Low power consumption — ideal for NAS or media center.

- Supports virtualization — can be used for light server tasks.

- Inexpensive on the secondary market ($15–25 for the CPU).

Cons:

- Only 2 cores — multitasking is limited.

- Outdated graphics without support for modern codecs.

- No PCIe 3.0/4.0 — discrete GPUs will work in PCIe 2.0 x16 mode.

6. Use Cases: Where Is the i5-2390T Relevant?

- Office PC: Document work, Zoom, browsing — but no more than 5–10 tabs.

- Home Theater: Streaming video in 1080p via Plex. For 4K, an external player (e.g., NVIDIA Shield) is required.

- Retro Gaming: Running games from the 2000s (Half-Life 2, GTA: San Andreas).

- Server: Backup, VPN, Docker with light containers.

Real Example: A user built a file storage system on an i5-2390T + 4 HDDs. Consumption — 45W at idle.

7. Comparison with Competitors: In Light of Modern CPUs

- Intel Core i3-14100 (2024): 4 cores / 8 threads, DDR5, TDP 60W. Price — $120. Three times faster in multi-threaded tasks.

- AMD Ryzen 3 8300G (2025): 4 cores / 8 threads, Radeon 740M, AV1 support. Price — $130.

Conclusion: The i5-2390T falls behind even budget newcomers but wins in price on the secondary market.

8. Assembly Tips: How to Avoid Mistakes

- Cooler: Standard Intel or low-profile Noctua NH-L9i ($50) will work.

- Storage: Must be SSD (Kingston A400 480 GB — $35).

- Graphics Card: For gaming — GTX 1650 (no additional power required). However, in 2025, it’s better to choose an APU.

- OS: Linux (Lubuntu) or Windows 10 LTSC. Windows 11 is not officially supported.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Is the i5-2390T Suitable for in 2025?

This processor should only be considered for:

1. Enthusiasts building retro PCs.

2. Budget NAS/media centers where energy savings are crucial.

3. Office systems with minimal requirements.

Alternative: For $150–200, you can build a system on the Intel N100 (2023) with DDR5 support and HDMI 2.1 — it will be quieter, more compact, and four times more powerful.

Conclusion: The Intel Core i5-2390T is an example of a "survived" CPU that has found a second life in niche scenarios. However, for most users in 2025, it is no longer relevant.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

February 2011

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i5-2390T

Code Name

Sandy Bridge

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

2.70 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

3.50 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.50 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1155

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

32 nm

TDP

35 W

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

2.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR3 1066/1333

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

32 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

5 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

21 GB/s

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 2000

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

650 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.10 GHz

Number of Displays Supported

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Instruction Set Extensions

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

3 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel InTru 3D Technology

Yes

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

563

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1108

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

524

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1096

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1465

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

2448

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i5-3330

642 +14%

Celeron G3920

600 +6.6%

Core i5-2390T

563

Core i5-2310

526 -6.6%

Core i5-2540M

489 -13.1%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Opteron 6168

1418 +28%

Celeron G5905

1242 +12.1%

Core i5-2390T

1108

Pentium Gold 4417U

979 -11.6%

Celeron G3900TE

903 -18.5%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Xeon E5-2697 v2

561 +7.1%

Core i5-3610ME

540 +3.1%

Core i5-2390T

524

EPYC 7401P

508 -3.1%

FX-4170

494 -5.7%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i3-6157U

1261 +15.1%

Core i3-L13G4

1173 +7%

Core i5-2390T

1096

Pentium Gold G6405T

1025 -6.5%

Core i7-3517UE

931 -15.1%

Passmark CPU Single Core

PRO A12-9800E

1519 +3.7%

FX-8300

1489 +1.6%

Core i5-2390T

1465

Xeon E5-2628L v4

1433 -2.2%

Core i3-2102

1400 -4.4%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Athlon X4 750K

2846 +16.3%

A8-5500B

2648 +8.2%

Core i5-2390T

2448

Core m5-6Y54

2289 -6.5%

Athlon II X4 631

2150 -12.2%