Celeron B840 vs Athlon II X2 240

CPU

GPU

Celeron B840

2 Cores2 Thrd0 WWMax: 1.9 GHz2011

Athlon II X2 240

2 Cores2 Thrd65 WWMax: 2.8 GHz2009

Performance Spectrum - CPU

Celeron B840

2 / 2

1,065

+0.5%

1,060

0.0%

Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX

Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7955WX

Ryzen Threadripper 3990X

About PassMark

PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Value Upgrade Path

This is the official ChipVERSUS Value Rating, comparing raw performance (PassMark) per dollar. Components placed above yours deliver better value for money. The Celeron B840 is positioned at rank 1028 and the Athlon II X2 240 is on rank 852, so the Athlon II X2 240 offers better cost-efficiency for playing games.

MSRP is the manufacturer's suggested retail price.•
Avg price is the current average price collected from markets across the web.

Performance Per Dollar Celeron B840

#1016

Atom x5-Z8300

MSRP: $20|Avg: N/A

2370%

#1017

Atom Z3735G

MSRP: $17|Avg: N/A

2335%

#1018

Core i5-480M

MSRP: $81|Avg: $77

2144%

#1019

Core i5-460M

MSRP: $80|Avg: $129

2134%

#1020

Core i5-2540M

MSRP: $266|Avg: $10

2115%

#1022

Core i5-450M

MSRP: $32|Avg: $31

2042%

#1023

Core i3-380M

MSRP: $49|Avg: $25

1958%

#1024

Core i5-430M

MSRP: N/A|Avg: $33

1955%

#1025

Core 2 Duo T6600

MSRP: N/A|Avg: $4

1902%

#1028

Celeron B840

MSRP: $86|Avg: $15

100%

#1029

Celeron M 743

MSRP: $107|Avg: $15

100%

#1030

Core i7-3612QM

MSRP: $378|Avg: N/A

100%

#1031

Pentium 967

MSRP: $134|Avg: $10

99%

#1032

Core i5-4400E

MSRP: $266|Avg: $50

99%

#1034

Pentium Dual Core T4400

MSRP: $107|Avg: $5

97%

#1037

Core i7-8665UE

MSRP: $409|Avg: $409

96%

#1038

Celeron T3300

MSRP: $86|Avg: $15

94%

#1039

Celeron Dual-Core T3300

MSRP: $86|Avg: $30

94%

#1042

Core i7-3612QE

MSRP: $426|Avg: $50

93%

#1043

A10-7300

MSRP: $150|Avg: $50

93%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Per Dollar Athlon II X2 240

Ryzen 9 7950X

MSRP: $194|Avg: $20

17641%

Core i9-10900T

MSRP: $120|Avg: $5

16669%

Ryzen 3 PRO 4355GE

MSRP: $423|Avg: $5

12103%

Ryzen Threadripper 3960X

MSRP: $1399|Avg: $85

3646%

Ryzen 9 9950X

MSRP: $649|Avg: $129

2888%

Ryzen 5 8400F

MSRP: $303|Avg: $55

2527%

Ryzen 7 PRO 2700

MSRP: $299|Avg: $60

1447%

Ryzen 5 2600X

MSRP: $229|Avg: $55

1428%

Ryzen 3 PRO 5350G

MSRP: $150|Avg: $60

1300%

#10

Core Ultra 5 245KF

MSRP: $294|Avg: $189

1300%

#11

Ryzen 5 5500

MSRP: $159|Avg: $85

1286%

#12

Ryzen 5 3600

MSRP: $199|Avg: $80

1251%

#13

Core i3-9100E

MSRP: $202|Avg: $30

1234%

#14

Core Ultra 5 245K

MSRP: $319|Avg: $200

1229%

#15

Core i3-8300T

MSRP: $138|Avg: $25

1217%

#852

Athlon II X2 240

MSRP: $60|Avg: $10

100%

#854

Core i5-2500S

MSRP: $192|Avg: $61

99%

#855

Athlon X2 BE-2400

MSRP: $60|Avg: $5

99%

#857

Pentium G850

MSRP: $86|Avg: $75

98%

#858

Core i3-2102

MSRP: $117|Avg: $15

98%

#859

Core i5-3475S

MSRP: $249|Avg: $42

98%

#860

Core i7-2600K

MSRP: $317|Avg: $109

98%

#861

Pentium G860

MSRP: $86|Avg: $36

98%

#862

Athlon II X2 245

MSRP: $66|Avg: $15

97%

#863

Core i7-2700K

MSRP: $332|Avg: $45

97%

#865

Core i5-4670K

MSRP: $328|Avg: $200

96%

#866

Core i5-3330S

MSRP: $231|Avg: $30

96%

#867

Celeron G465

MSRP: $70|Avg: $37

96%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Comparison

About PassMark

🏆 Chipversus Verdict

🚀 Performance Leadership

Performance Leadership: The Celeron B840 delivers superior performance across the board. It outperforms the Athlon II X2 240 in both compute-intensive tasks (0.5% faster) and gaming workloads.

Insight	Celeron B840	Athlon II X2 240
Gaming	✅ Superior gaming performance	❌ Lower gaming performance
Workstation	✅ Better multi-core power	❌ Weaker in multi-core tasks
Price	⚠️ Higher cost ($15)	✅ More affordable ($10)
Longevity	🛑 Legacy (Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) / 32 nm)	🛑 Legacy (Regor (2009−2013) / 45 nm)

💎 Value Proposition

Value Proposition: While both processors are considered legacy components by modern standards, the Athlon II X2 240 holds the technical lead in efficiency. Priced at $10 (vs $15), it costs 33% less. While offering basic entry-level performance, it results in a 49% higher cost efficiency score compared to the Celeron B840.

Insight	Celeron B840	Athlon II X2 240
Cost Efficiency	❌ Lower cost efficiency	✅ Better overall value (+49%)
Upfront Cost	⚠️ Higher cost ($15)	✅ More affordable ($10)

Performance Check

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Celeron B840 Benchmark Check

Athlon II X2 240 Benchmark Check

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Celeron B840 and Athlon II X2 240

Celeron B840

The Celeron B840 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 1 July 2011 (14 years ago). It is based on the Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) architecture. It features 2 cores and 2 threads. Base frequency is 1.9 GHz, with boost up to 1.9 GHz. L3 cache: 2 MB (total). L2 cache: 256K (per core). Built on 32 nm process technology. Socket: PGA988. Thermal design power (TDP): 35 Watt. Memory support: DDR3. Passmark benchmark score: 1,065 points. Launch price was $86.

Athlon II X2 240

The Athlon II X2 240 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 23 July 2009 (16 years ago). It is based on the Regor (2009−2013) architecture. It features 2 cores and 2 threads. Base frequency is 2.8 GHz, with boost up to 2.8 GHz. L3 cache: 0 kB. L2 cache: 2 MB. Built on 45 nm process technology. Socket: AM3. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR3. Passmark benchmark score: 1,060 points. Launch price was $35.

⚡

Processing Power

Both the Celeron B840 and Athlon II X2 240 share an identical 2-core/2-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 1.9 GHz on the Celeron B840 versus 2.8 GHz on the Athlon II X2 240 — a 38.3% clock advantage for the Athlon II X2 240 (base: 1.9 GHz vs 2.8 GHz). The Celeron B840 uses the Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) architecture (32 nm), while the Athlon II X2 240 uses Regor (2009−2013) (45 nm). In PassMark, the Celeron B840 scores 1,065 against the Athlon II X2 240's 1,060 — a 0.5% lead for the Celeron B840. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 450 vs 373, a 18.7% lead for the Celeron B840 that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 790 vs 700 (12.1% advantage for the Celeron B840). L3 cache: 2 MB (total) on the Celeron B840 vs 0 kB on the Athlon II X2 240.

Feature	Celeron B840	Athlon II X2 240
Cores / Threads	2 / 2	2 / 2
Boost Clock	1.9 GHz	2.8 GHz+47%
Base Clock	1.9 GHz	2.8 GHz+47%
L3 Cache	2 MB (total)	0 kB
L2 Cache	256K (per core)	2 MB+700%
Process	32 nm-29%	45 nm
Architecture	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Regor (2009−2013)
PassMark	1,065	1,060
Geekbench 6 Single	450+21%	373
Geekbench 6 Multi	790+13%	700

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Celeron B840 uses the PGA988 socket (PCIe 2.0), while the Athlon II X2 240 uses AM3 (PCIe 2.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches 1333 on the Celeron B840 versus DDR3-1066 on the Athlon II X2 240 — the Celeron B840 supports 199.1% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. Both support up to 16 of RAM. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. Both provide 16 PCIe lanes. Chipset compatibility: HM65,HM67,QM67 (Celeron B840) and 760G,785G,790GX,880G,890GX (Athlon II X2 240).

Feature	Celeron B840	Athlon II X2 240
Socket	PGA988	AM3
PCIe Generation	PCIe 2.0	PCIe 2.0
Max RAM Speed	1333+44333%	DDR3-1066
Max RAM Capacity	16	16 GB+104857500%
RAM Channels	2	2
ECC Support	❌	❌
PCIe Lanes	16	16

🔧

Advanced Features

Neither processor supports overclocking. Virtualization support: true (Celeron B840) vs AMD-V (Athlon II X2 240). The Celeron B840 includes integrated graphics (Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)), while the Athlon II X2 240 requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Celeron B840 targets Budget, Athlon II X2 240 targets Desktop. Direct competitor: Celeron B840 rivals Pentium B940; Athlon II X2 240 rivals Pentium E5400.

Feature	Celeron B840	Athlon II X2 240
Integrated GPU	Yes	No
IGPU Model	Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)	None
Unlocked	No	No
AVX-512	No	No
Virtualization	true	AMD-V
Target Use	Budget	Desktop

💰

Value Analysis

The Celeron B840 launched at $86 MSRP, while the Athlon II X2 240 debuted at $60. At current prices ($15 vs $10), the Athlon II X2 240 is $5 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Celeron B840 delivers 71.0 pts/$ vs 106.0 pts/$ for the Athlon II X2 240 — making the Athlon II X2 240 the 39.5% better value option.