Intel Celeron J3455 vs Intel Celeron N3150

Intel Celeron J3455

The Intel Celeron J3355 is a quad-core SoC primarily for inexpensive notebooks and Mini-PCs and was announced in late 2016. It runs at 1.5 - 2.3 GHz (Single Core Burst) and is based on the Apollo Lake platform. Similar to the Braswell predecessor, the chip is manufactured in a 14 nm process (P1273) with FinFETs. Besides two CPU cores, the chip also includes a DirectX 12 capable GPU as well as a DDR3L/LPDDR3/LPDDR4 memory controller (dual-channel, up to 1866/2400 MHz).

Architecture

For the first time in a couple of years, Intel completely reworked the CPU architecture of the Atom series. The manufacturer advertises performance gains of roughly 30 percent, but does not reveal any specifics about the individual changes. The new Goldmont architecture should therefore be roughly on par with AMD's Beema/Carrizo-L APUs in terms of per-MHz performance, but it still far behind the more expensive Core CPUs (like Skylake / Kaby Lake).

Performance

The CPU performance of the Celeron J3455 is between the mobile Celeron N3450 and Pentium N4200 in the lower range of mobile processors. Therefore, the CPU is best suited for light tasks with not much multitasking (office, browsing).

GPU Performance

The HD Graphics 500 (Apollo Lake) is based on Intel's Gen9 architecture, which supports DirectX 12 and is also used for the Kaby Lake / Skylake graphics adapters (like HD Graphics 520). Equipped with 12 EUs and a clock of up to 750 MHz, the performance should be roughly on par with the older HD Graphics (Braswell). This means only older and simpler titles will run smoothly.

The chip also includes an advanced video engine with hardware support for the playback of VP9 and H.265 material (8-bit color-depth).

Power Consumption

The Celeron J3455 is specified at 10 Watt TDP and therefore 4 Watts higher than the slightly faster Pentium N4200.

Intel Celeron N3150

The Intel Celeron N3150 is a quad-core SoC for entry-level notebooks, which has been presented in early 2015. It is clocked at 1.6 - 2.08 GHz and part of the Braswell platform. Thanks to its new 14 nanometer low-power process (P1273) with tri-gate transistors, energy efficiency has been significantly improved compared to its predecessor Bay Trail (e.g. Celeron N2930). In addition to the CPU cores, the SoC offers a DirectX 11.2-capable GPU as well as a DDR3L Memory Controller (2x 64 bit, 25.6 GB/s).

Architecture

The processor cores are based on the Airmont architecture, which is basically a slightly modified shrink of the previous Silvermont core. While performance per clock has not been improved, the more efficient 14 nm process may lead to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and therefore a somewhat higher performance in certain situations.

Performance

Compared to its predecessor Celeron N2930 (1.8 - 2.2 GHz) or the competing AMD APU E2-6110, the N3150 offers an almost identical performance. Using Windows, the CPU is adequate for everyday tasks such as Internet browsing or office applications, but may struggle in more demanding software.

Graphics

The HD Graphics (Braswell) is based on the Intel Gen8 architecture, which supports DirectX 11.2 and is also found in the Broadwell series (e.g. HD Graphics 5300). With 12 EUs (Execution Units) and a clock speed of up to 640 MHz, the GPU is almost twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail), but still not powerful enough to handle demanding 3D games of 2015. The GPU also supports 4K/H.265 video acceleration.

Power Consumption

The entire SoC is rated at an TDP of 6 watts (SDP 4 watts). Thus, the chip can be cooled passively.