AES-NI Performance Analyzed; Limited To 32nm Core i5 CPUs

Benchmark Results: PCMark Vantage Communications Test

PCMark Vantage says the same. The overall communications score is 50% better on the new 32nm Clarkdale dual-core than on the 45nm Lynnfield quad-core chip.

And here is why.

Again, Intel only accelerates AES. Data compression doesn’t benefit. Rather, it depends on core count and clock speed.

Decryption that includes AES is also significantly faster.

Here is one more synthetic metric where Intel's Clarkdale-based Core i5-661 shines thanks to AES support.