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Intel Core i5-9500T

Intel Core i5-9500T: A Budget Processor for Basic Tasks in 2025

Relevant as of April 2025

Introduction

The Intel Core i5-9500T processor, released in 2019, remains a popular choice for budget builds. Despite being based on an outdated manufacturing process, it continues to be relevant due to its low power consumption and sufficient performance for everyday tasks. In this article, we will explore who this CPU is suitable for in 2025, how to use it correctly, and what to pay attention to when building a PC.

1. Key Specifications

Architecture and Manufacturing Process

The Core i5-9500T is built on the Coffee Lake architecture using a 14nm manufacturing process. By 2025, this will be considered a "dinosaur" compared to the latest 5nm and 7nm chips, but its capabilities are enough for office PCs or media centers.

Key Parameters:

- 6 Cores / 6 Threads (lacks Hyper-Threading);

- Base clock speed: 2.2 GHz, maximum in Turbo Boost — 3.7 GHz;

- 9 MB L3 cache;

- TDP 35 W (ideal for compact systems);

- Integrated graphics Intel UHD Graphics 630.

Performance:

- Geekbench 6: 1236 (Single-Core), 4218 (Multi-Core).

For comparison, the modern Ryzen 5 5500G (2021) scores around 1500/6000 points but is priced about $20-30 higher.

Features:

- Energy efficiency — suitable for mini-PCs and passive cooling;

- Support for 4K video hardware decoding (HEVC, VP9);

- Compatibility with Windows 11 (with TPM module).

2. Compatible Motherboards

Socket and Chipsets

The processor uses LGA 1151 v2 but works exclusively with 300 series chipsets:

- H310 — basic model for office tasks;

- B360 — optimal choice (supports USB 3.1 Gen2, more PCIe lanes);

- Z390 — overkill option (overclocking not supported).

Examples of motherboards in 2025:

- ASRock B365M-HDV ($75-90) — a reliable budget board with HDMI and M.2;

- Gigabyte H310M S2H 2.0 ($60-70) — minimalist option for builds with no upgrades.

Important: New boards for LGA 1151 v2 are no longer in production, but they can be found in stock or from trusted resellers.

3. Supported Memory Types

DDR4-2666 MHz — the maximum official frequency.

- Capacity: up to 128 GB (4 slots with 32 GB each);

- Mode: dual-channel (it's recommended to use 2 or 4 modules).

Tip: In 2025, DDR4 prices are dropping — a 16 GB kit (2x8 GB) will cost around $35-45. DDR5 is not supported.

4. Power Supply Recommendations

With a TDP of 35 W, a 300-400 W PSU will be more than sufficient, especially if no discrete graphics card is used.

Examples:

- be quiet! Pure Power 11 400W ($55) — quiet and reliable;

- Corsair CX450M ($50) — modular design for easy assembly.

If adding a graphics card:

- For RTX 3050 or RX 6600, a PSU rated at 500-600 W will be needed (e.g., EVGA 600 BR, $60).

5. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Low power consumption and heat generation;

- Integrated graphics for 4K video playback;

- Sufficient performance for office and browsing tasks.

Cons:

- No Hyper-Threading — multi-threaded performance lags behind the Ryzen 5;

- Aging 14nm manufacturing process;

- Limited upgrade path (subsequent Intel generations require a socket change).

6. Use Cases

- Office Tasks: Document work, email, video conferencing (Zoom, Teams).

- Multimedia: Watching 4K video, streaming (Netflix, YouTube).

- Light Gaming: Dota 2, CS:2 on low settings (30-50 FPS at Full HD).

Real Example:

A user built a PC on the i5-9500T for a home theater. They connected it to a Silverstone ML09 mini case with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The system runs silently and handles 4K HDR via HDMI 2.0.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Ryzen 5 5500G (6/12, Zen 3, 7nm):

- Pros: SMT (12 threads), Vega 7 graphics (twice the speed of UHD 630), PCIe 4.0 support.

- Cons: TDP 65 W, price $130-140 (versus $110-120 for i5-9500T).

Intel Core i3-12100 (4/8, Alder Lake, 10nm):

- Pros: Higher IPC, DDR5 support, PCIe 5.0.

- Cons: Only 4 cores, price $130.

Conclusion: The i5-9500T wins only in price and energy efficiency. For multitasking, the Ryzen 5 is a better choice.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

1. Case: Choose compact models (Fractal Design Node 304, Cooler Master Elite 110) for HTPC.

2. Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but for silence, consider the Noctua NH-L9i ($45).

3. Storage: An SSD is a must (Crucial P3 1TB, $60) — HDD will be a bottleneck.

4. Graphics Card: If higher FPS is needed, add a GTX 1650 (no additional power needed).

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the i5-9500T Suitable For?

This processor is worth considering if:

- Your budget is limited to $300-400 for the entire build;

- You need a quiet and compact PC for office work, studies, or a media center;

- There are no requirements for modern games or heavy applications.

Why in 2025?

Despite its age, the i5-9500T remains a viable option for basic tasks. Its main advantages are price and energy efficiency. However, for future upgrades, it’s better to look into more modern platforms (AM5 or LGA 1700).

Where to Buy:

New processors are still available from major resellers (Newegg, Amazon) for prices around $110-120.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2018

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.

i5-9500T

Code Name

Coffee Lake

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

2.20 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.

3.70 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.70 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.

L3 Cache

9 MB

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1151

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.

14 nm

TDP

35 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

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.

3.0

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

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

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.

DDR4-2666

Max Memory Size

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

128 GB

Memory Channels

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

Bus Speed

8 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).

41.6 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics 630

Graphics Base Frequency

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

350 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

Graphics Video Max Memory

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2304@24Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

4096 x 2304@60Hz

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

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

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.

9 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 Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

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 Clear Video Technology

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 OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

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

1236

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

4218

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1021

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

4502

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

2366

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

9848

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon Silver 4310

1317 +6.6%

Core i5-8400H

1275 +3.2%

Core i5-9500T

1236

Core i7-5820K

1197 -3.2%

Core i3-8109U

1165 -5.7%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon D-2143IT

4788 +13.5%

Xeon E3-1275 v5

4520 +7.2%

Core i5-9500T

4218

Core i7-5750HQ

4008 -5%

Core i7-4940MX

3773 -10.6%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Xeon Platinum 8352V

1066 +4.4%

Core i3-9100F

1042 +2.1%

Core i5-9500T

1021

Athlon Gold 3150GE

1002 -1.9%

Core i7-8650U

974 -4.6%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i7-10850H

4981 +10.6%

Xeon Gold 6130

4756 +5.6%

Core i5-9500T

4502

Xeon E3-1275 v6

4291 -4.7%

Core i5-1135G7

4043 -10.2%

Passmark CPU Single Core

EPYC 7F52

2436 +3%

Xeon Gold 5220

2399 +1.4%

Core i5-9500T

2366

Core i5-6600

2335 -1.3%

Ryzen 5 3400GE

2303 -2.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i7-9700T

10736 +9%

Core i7-9700TE

10280 +4.4%

Core i5-9500T

9848

Core i5-8600T

9299 -5.6%

Core i3-10105F

9008 -8.5%