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Intel Core i5-2320

Intel Core i5-2320: Overview of an Outdated but Still Useful Processor

(Relevant as of April 2025)

Introduction

The Intel Core i5-2320 is a processor from the Sandy Bridge era, released in 2011. Despite its age, it can still be found in budget PCs and office systems. In this article, we will analyze whether it remains relevant in 2025, what tasks it is capable of handling, and who should consider it.

1. Key Specifications

Architecture and Manufacturing Process

The i5-2320 is built on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture (2011) with a 32 nm manufacturing process. This was the first Intel "bridge" to integrate a graphics core (Intel HD Graphics 2000) directly onto the processor die.

- Cores and Threads: 4 cores, 4 threads (no Hyper-Threading).

- Base Clock: 3.0 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz.

- Cache: 6 MB L3.

- TDP: 95 W.

Key Features for Its Time:

- Support for AVX instructions to accelerate computations.

- Turbo Boost 2.0 and Quick Sync Video technology (video encoding).

Performance (Geekbench 6):

- Single-Core: 549 points.

- Multi-Core: 1414 points.

For comparison: the modern Intel Core i3-12100 (2023) scores ~1800/6000 points.

2. Compatible Motherboards

Socket and Chipsets

The processor uses the LGA 1155 socket. Suitable chipsets include:

- H61, B65, Q67 — basic models for office PCs.

- P67, Z68 — motherboards that allow overclocking (though the i5-2320 has a locked multiplier).

Selection Considerations in 2025:

- New motherboards are no longer produced. The market only has used options (price: $20–50).

- Check for support for SATA III and USB 3.0 — these ports are not available on all boards (for example, H61 often is limited to SATA II).

- Model examples: ASUS P8H61-M, Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3.

3. Supported Memory

- Type: DDR3 (not compatible with DDR4/DDR5).

- Frequencies: 1066/1333 MHz.

- Maximum Capacity: 32 GB (depends on motherboard).

- Modes: Dual-channel.

Advice: Use 2 modules of 8 GB DDR3-1333 (used price — $15–25 per stick). For office tasks, 8 GB will suffice.

4. Power Supply Recommendations

- Power: PSU in the range of 400–450 W (for example, be quiet! System Power 10 450W — $50).

- Details:

- Consider the power consumption of the graphics card. Without a discrete GPU, 300 W will be sufficient.

- Avoid using old PSUs with low efficiency (80+ Bronze or higher is more reliable).

Example Build:

- i5-2320 + GTX 1650 (TDP 75 W) + 2x8 GB DDR3 + SSD.

- Recommended PSU: 450 W (EVGA 450 BR — $45).

5. Pros and Cons

Advantages:

- Reliability: Sandy Bridge processors are known for their longevity.

- Price: A used processor costs $15–25 (compared to $100–150 for a new i3-12100F).

- Adequate performance for basic tasks: office work, YouTube, older games.

Disadvantages:

- Outdated architecture: No support for PCIe 3.0, NVMe (only through adapters), USB 3.1.

- Weak IPC: Lags behind even budget modern CPUs (e.g., Ryzen 3 5300G).

- High power consumption: 95 W compared to 65 W for modern counterparts.

6. Use Cases

Office and Multimedia

- Handling documents, browsing (10+ tabs), watching videos in 1080p.

- Recommendations: Add an SSD (e.g., Kingston A400 240 GB — $25) to speed up the system.

Gaming

- Older titles: GTA V, CS:GO, Dota 2 at medium settings (60 FPS with a GPU like the GTX 1050 Ti).

- Modern games: Minimum settings in esports titles (Valorant, Fortnite).

Work Tasks

- Not suitable for rendering, 4K editing, or machine learning.

7. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Phenom II X4 965 (2010)

- Weaker in single-threaded tasks (Geekbench 6 Single-Core: ~300), but cheaper ($10 used).

Intel Core i3-10100 (2020)

- 4 cores/8 threads, Geekbench 6: 1200/4200.

- New price: $90–110.

Conclusion: The i5-2320 falls short compared to even budget CPUs from the 2020s, but it edges out in price for ultra-budget builds.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

- Motherboard: Look for models with USB 3.0 and SATA III (e.g., ASRock H61M/U3S3).

- Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but replace the thermal paste (Arctic MX-4 — $5).

- Upgrade: Add an SSD instead of an HDD — this will "revive" the system.

- Be cautious with BIOS: Some boards require a firmware update to support Sandy Bridge processors.

9. Final Thoughts: Who Should Consider the i5-2320?

This processor should only be considered in cases of:

- Building a PC for parents/children with a budget of up to $100.

- Repairing an old computer (replacing a dead CPU).

- Creating a media server or terminal for light tasks.

Why not to buy it in 2025:

- Even new $100 CPUs (e.g., Intel N100) offer better performance and energy efficiency.

- No support for modern standards (DDR4, NVMe, Wi-Fi 6).

Conclusion

The Intel Core i5-2320 is an example of a "workhorse" that, 14 years later, can still provide value. However, its time has passed: for gaming, professional tasks, and long-term investments, it's better to choose something from the new generation. But if you need a temporary or ultra-budget PC — this processor can still surprise.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

September 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.

i5-2320

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

3.00 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.

3.30 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

3.30 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.

CPU Socket

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

LGA1155

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

95 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

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

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics 2000

Graphics Base Frequency

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

850 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.

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.

6 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

549

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

1414

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

632

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

1982

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1523

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

3652

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Athlon Gold 3150C

625 +13.8%

Pentium G3260T

585 +6.6%

Core i5-2320

549

FX-6350

508 -7.5%

Core i5-2450M

477 -13.1%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon W3530

1722 +21.8%

Core i5-3475S

1544 +9.2%

Core i5-2320

1414

Celeron 6305

1236 -12.6%

3020e

1105 -21.9%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i5-3340

677 +7.1%

Core i5-2540M

656 +3.8%

Core i5-2320

632

Core i5-2400S

610 -3.5%

Xeon E5-4620 v4

587 -7.1%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Pentium Gold G5620

2290 +15.5%

Core i3-7100

2123 +7.1%

Core i5-2320

1982

Opteron 6262 HE

1871 -5.6%

EPYC 7402P

1714 -13.5%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Celeron G1840

1582 +3.9%

A10-7890K

1558 +2.3%

Core i5-2320

1523

PRO A8-8650B

1489 -2.2%

Core i5-2400S

1468 -3.6%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Athlon PRO 300U

4080 +11.7%

Core i5-6287U

3823 +4.7%

Core i5-2320

3652

A10 PRO-7850B

3453 -5.4%

FX-4350

3290 -9.9%