The Intel Core i3-540 was a desktop processor with 2 cores, launched in January 2010, at an MSRP of $133. It is part of the Core i3 lineup, using the Clarkdale architecture with Socket 1156. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 4 threads. Core i3-540 has 4 MB of L3 cache and operates at 3.066 GHz. Intel is building the Core i3-540 on a 32 nm production process using 382 million transistors. The multiplier is locked on Core i3-540, which limits its overclocking capabilities.
With a TDP of 73 W, the Core i3-540 consumes typical power levels for a modern PC. Intel's processor supports DDR3 memory with a dual-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 1333 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. For communication with other components in the machine, Core i3-540 uses a PCI-Express Gen 2 connection. This processor features the Intel HD integrated graphics solution.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Core i3-540, which greatly improves virtual machine performance.