AMD Athlon PRO 300U vs Intel Core i5-3330 Comparison

The Intel Core i5-3330 and AMD Athlon PRO 300U are separated by nearly seven years of silicon evolution, yet their benchmark scores tell a story of remarkable parity. The desktop-oriented Ivy Bridge chip from 2012 edges out the mobile Raven Ridge 2 part from 2019 in every single Cinebench test recorded, but the margins are razor-thin. Across all five head-to-head benchmarks, the Intel part wins with deltas ranging from 0.5% to 0.6%. The data shows a statistical tie in raw compute, with the i5-3330’s 34th percentile ranking versus the Athlon’s 33rd percentile confirming that neither processor offers a meaningful aggregate advantage over the other.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest victory for the Intel Core i5-3330 comes in Cinebench R15 multi-core, where it scores 351 against the Athlon PRO 300U’s 349. That 0.6% delta is the widest margin recorded in this comparison, yet it amounts to just two points. The same pattern repeats in Cinebench R23 single-core, where the i5-3330 posts 492 versus 489, again a 0.6% advantage. In both cases, the performance difference is within the noise of typical benchmark variance.

The remaining three tests show even tighter spreads. In Cinebench R20 multi-core, the i5-3330 scores 1464 against the Athlon’s 1456, a 0.5% lead. The Cinebench R20 single-core test sees 206 versus 205, another 0.5% gap. Cinebench R23 multi-core rounds out the set with 3486 versus 3468, also a 0.5% difference. The Intel chip wins all five comparisons, but the cumulative picture is one of near-identical throughput across both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads.

What makes these results surprising is the hardware disparity. The i5-3330 fields four physical cores with no simultaneous multi-threading, while the Athlon PRO 300U uses two cores with four threads. The Intel part also runs at a 3.00 GHz base clock and 3.20 GHz boost, whereas the AMD chip has a 2.40 GHz base but a higher 3.30 GHz boost. Despite the Athlon’s architectural advantage from being built on the newer Zen core, the older Ivy Bridge design holds its ground. The 77W desktop TDP of the Intel part gives it thermal headroom that the 15W mobile AMD chip lacks, which may explain why the four-core Intel design can match a more modern two-core/ four-thread design.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Core i5-3330 wins every benchmark in this dataset, so the use-case split is less about outright victories and more about the context of each processor’s strengths. In multi-threaded rendering tasks, the i5-3330’s four physical cores provide a slight edge. The Cinebench R15 multi-core result of 351 versus 349 and the R23 multi-core result of 3486 versus 3468 both favor Intel, suggesting that applications which scale across cores will see marginally better performance on the older desktop chip.

The AMD Athlon PRO 300U, despite losing all head-to-head tests, still presents a compelling case in single-threaded workloads. Its 3.30 GHz boost clock is higher than the i5-3330’s 3.20 GHz, and the Zen architecture’s modern instruction pipeline helps close the gap to within 0.5-0.6%. The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 205 versus 206 is effectively a dead heat. For users who prioritize power efficiency, the Athlon’s 15W TDP versus the Intel’s 77W TDP is a decisive differentiator, even though the benchmark scores do not reflect it.

The Athlon also wins on platform modernity. It supports DDR4 memory while the i5-3330 is limited to DDR3, and the integrated Radeon Vega 3 graphics are far more capable than the Intel HD 2500. The data shows that in pure CPU compute, the two are inseparable, but the AMD part offers a newer feature set that the benchmarks do not capture.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-3330 has an average benchmark score of 1200, while the AMD Athlon PRO 300U scores 1193. The Intel part also holds a 34th percentile ranking versus the Athlon’s 33rd.

Q: How do their multi-core Cinebench R23 scores compare?

A: The Intel Core i5-3330 scores 3486 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, while the AMD Athlon PRO 300U scores 3468. This gives the Intel chip a 0.5% advantage.

Q: What is the TDP difference between these two processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-3330 has a TDP of 77W, while the AMD Athlon PRO 300U has a TDP of 15W. The AMD part draws substantially less power.

Q: Which processor supports newer memory technology?

A: The AMD Athlon PRO 300U supports DDR4 memory, whereas the Intel Core i5-3330 is limited to DDR3. Both use dual-channel memory buses.

Q: Are these processors closely matched in their nearest rival comparisons?

A: Yes. The i5-3330’s nearest rival is the AMD Athlon PRO 200GE with a 0% delta, while the Athlon PRO 300U’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-4170 and Core i7-8665UE, both with a 0% delta.

Q: What are the boost clock speeds for each processor?

A: The Intel Core i5-3330 boosts to 3.20 GHz, while the AMD Athlon PRO 300U boosts to 3.30 GHz. The AMD chip has a higher peak clock speed.

Specification Differences

The two processors differ significantly in core configuration. The Intel Core i5-3330 has 4 cores and 4 threads, while the AMD Athlon PRO 300U has 2 cores and 4 threads. Base clocks also differ: 3.00 GHz for Intel versus 2.40 GHz for AMD. The boost clocks are closer, with Intel at 3.20 GHz and AMD at 3.30 GHz.

The TDP gap is substantial. The Intel part draws 77W, while the AMD part draws only 15W. They also use different sockets: Intel Socket 1155 for the i5-3330 and AMD Socket FP5 for the Athlon PRO 300U. The memory support differs as well, with DDR3 on the Intel side and DDR4 on the AMD side. The Intel chip supports PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes (CPU only), while the AMD chip’s PCIe configuration is not specified.

The integrated graphics are different: Intel HD 2500 on the i5-3330 versus Radeon Vega 3 on the Athlon PRO 300U. The market segments also differ, with the Intel part targeting desktop systems and the AMD part targeting mobile platforms. The production status shows the AMD chip as active, while no status is listed for the Intel chip.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two processors spans multiple generations. The Intel Core i5-3330 is built on the Ivy Bridge architecture using a 22 nm process node manufactured by Intel. The AMD Athlon PRO 300U uses the Zen architecture, specifically the Raven Ridge 2 codename, on a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries. This process node difference gives the AMD part a transistor density advantage, though the Intel chip’s die size is listed at 133 mm² while the AMD die size is not specified.

Cache hierarchies differ notably. The Intel part offers 64 KB of L1 cache per core and 256 KB of L2 cache per core, with 6 MB of shared L3 cache. The AMD part provides 128 KB of L1 cache per core and 512 KB of L2 cache per core, but only 4 MB of shared L3 cache. This means the AMD architecture has larger per-core caches but less total L3, while the Intel design compensates with more shared cache.

The foundry relationship also differs, with Intel manufacturing its own chip and AMD relying on GlobalFoundries. Neither processor supports ECC memory, and both have locked multipliers. The release dates are separated by over six years, with the Intel part launching in September 2012 and the AMD part in April 2019. The generation labels reflect this: Intel lists the i5-3330 as part of the Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) generation, while AMD labels the Athlon PRO 300U as Athlon (Zen, Raven Ridge 2).