Core i5 2500
Intel desktop processor · Core i 2nd gen · launched January 2011
Check the price on AmazonAffiliate link. Street prices move; the figures on this page are launch prices.
Launch price in today's dollars
The Core i5 2500 launched at $205 in 2011. Adjusted with the U.S. Consumer Price Index, that is about $302 in 2026 dollars (7-month average), a 47% rise over 15 years. At its launch price that is 13 Blender points per $100.
Method: launch price × (CPI 2026 average ÷ CPI 2011 average), calendar-year averages of BLS series CPIAUCSL. 2026 covers 7 months so far.
Blender rendering score
Median score 27 (middle half of runs 21–31) across 11 community runs on Blender 4.x with the CPU backend. That is #283 of 290 desktop processors in our dataset with a score, and #5 of 6 in the Core i 2nd gen.
This is a rendering benchmark (samples per minute over the monster, junkshop and classroom scenes), not a gaming benchmark. It says how fast the part renders in Blender's Cycles engine and nothing about frame rates. Source: Blender Open Data, CC0, snapshot 2026-09-06.
Specifications
| Vendor | Intel |
|---|---|
| Series | Core i 2nd gen |
| Launched | January 2011 |
| Launch price | $205 (1,000-unit price) |
| Socket | LGA 1155 |
| Cores / threads | 4 / 4 |
| Base clock | 3.3 GHz |
| Boost clock | 3.7 GHz |
| L3 cache | 6 MB |
| Rated power | 95 W (TDP) |
| Integrated graphics | HD 2000 |
| Tier | 5-series |
The Intel 5-series over time
Intel desktop processors in the same tier around this one, oldest first, re-releases left out. Prices in launch dollars and in 2026 dollars; scores are Blender 4.x medians where they exist.
| Part | Year | Launch price | In 2026 $ | Blender |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i5 670 | 2010 | $284 | $431 | — |
| Core i5 750S | 2010 | $259 | $393 | — |
| Core i5 680 | 2010 | $294 | $446 | — |
| Core i5 655K | 2010 | $216 | $328 | — |
| Core i5 760 | 2010 | $205 | $311 | — |
| Core i5 2300 | 2011 | $177 | $260 | — |
| Core i5 2400 | 2011 | $184 | $271 | 26 |
| Core i5 2400S | 2011 | $195 | $287 | — |
| Core i5 2500 | 2011 | $205 | $302 | 27 |
| Core i5 2500K | 2011 | $216 | $318 | 30 |
| Core i5 2500S | 2011 | $216 | $318 | — |
| Core i5 2500T | 2011 | $216 | $318 | — |
| Core i5 2390T | 2011 | $195 | $287 | — |
| Core i5 2310 | 2011 | $177 | $260 | — |
| Core i5 2405S | 2011 | $205 | $302 | — |
| Core i5 2320 | 2011 | $177 | $260 | — |
Compare with
- Core i5 2300 · 2011 · $177
- Core i5 2310 · 2011 · $177
- Core i5 2320 · 2011 · $177
- Core i5 2390T · 2011 · $195
- Core i5 2400 · 2011 · $184 · 26
- Core i5 2400S · 2011 · $195
- Core i5 2405S · 2011 · $205
- Core i5 2500K · 2011 · $216 · 30
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