The CPU itself is INCREDIBLY slow and awful to run pretty much anything with. However, it does have one thing definitely going for it.
Despite me having used it pretty much 24/7 for the past 7 years, and the SFF Optiplex 760 it's on, having only been cleaned 3-4 times in its' whole life, because I didn't know how to clean a PC until fairly recently.
Yet the E5300 STILL runs after all these years, and only begun getting any noticeably slower in the past year or so. This kind of reliability is far more than what I can say for Intel's high end CPUs from just the past year. Because half a year ago I finally managed to get a new computer to replace my Optiplex. And so far I've somehow lost TWO CPUs in a row. First the original i5-11400f I had bought, and then the i5-11500 I bought as a replacement. [Feb '225555]
If you're after low-power computing then this is a good, basic processor to get work done. Based on the 2016 14nm Apollo Lake architecture it is designed for mobile efficiency and comes in a range of laptops from budget to mid-tier. It uses about 4 to 6 watts under load (yes, four to six whole watts) and generally idles under 2 watts.
It has four cores with four threads and has a 1.1GHz base clock with a 2.2GHz boost, with the included HD 500 series graphics boasting 12 execution units running at up to 700MHz, although information regarding this is limited given its budget application.
If you're processing data then forget anything with this. Although possible, it'll take forever as you're limited to 256k of L1 and 2MB of L2 cache - no L3 at all. The included graphics won't help you here either.
For everyday processing, or a cheap laptop for the kids, this is a decent processor but throw more than 2 or 3 basic tasks at it and it flounders. Anything more complex than everyday word processing, internet and multimedia is beyond it, but given that's what the majority of users will be doing this isn't an issue.
The bonus? Ultra-light, thin and quiet latops with passive cooling and sub- $250USD price points. Not bad! [Jul '19boingk]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.