Core i5-2320 vs Pentium Gold G5420

The Core i5-2320 packs 4 cores / 4 threads, while the Pentium Gold G5420 offers 2 cores / 4 threads — the Core i5-2320 has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.3 GHz on the Core i5-2320 versus 3.8 GHz on the Pentium Gold G5420 — a 14.1% clock advantage for the Pentium Gold G5420 (base: 3 GHz vs 3.8 GHz). The Core i5-2320 uses the Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) architecture (32 nm), while the Pentium Gold G5420 uses Coffee Lake (2017−2019) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-2320 scores 3,688 against the Pentium Gold G5420's 3,700 — a 0.3% lead for the Pentium Gold G5420. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 560 vs 764, a 30.8% lead for the Pentium Gold G5420 that directly translates to higher frame rates. L3 cache: 6 MB (total) on the Core i5-2320 vs 4 MB on the Pentium Gold G5420.

The Core i5-2320 uses the LGA1155 socket (PCIe 2.0), while the Pentium Gold G5420 uses LGA1151 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR3-1333 on the Core i5-2320 versus DDR4-2400 on the Pentium Gold G5420 — the Pentium Gold G5420 supports 28.6% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Pentium Gold G5420 supports up to 64 GB of RAM compared to 32 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. Both provide 16 PCIe lanes. Chipset compatibility: H61,H67,P67,Z68,B75,Z77 (Core i5-2320) and H310,B360,B365,H370,Z370,Z390 (Pentium Gold G5420).

Neither processor supports overclocking. Virtualization support: VT-x, EPT (Core i5-2320) vs VT-x / VT-d / EPT (Pentium Gold G5420). Both include integrated graphics — HD Graphics 2000 (Core i5-2320) and Intel UHD Graphics 610 (Pentium Gold G5420) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i5-2320 targets Legacy Desktop, Pentium Gold G5420 targets Office. Direct competitor: Core i5-2320 rivals Phenom II X4 965.