Intel Celeron N3450 vs AMD A6-9225

Intel Celeron N3450

The Intel Celeron N3450 is a quad-core SoC primarily for inexpensive notebooks and was announced mid 2016. It runs at 1.1 - 2.2 GHz (Single Core Burst, Multi-Core Burst max 2.1 GHz) 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 four 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 N3450 with 4 CPU cores and a clock between 1.1-2.2 GHz should depend a lot on the cooling solution. If the chip can maintain its Boost clock, the N3450 should be about 15-20 percent faster than the old N3710 (Braswell) and compete with an AMD A4-7210. This means the processor is perfectly suited for daily tasks (office, browsing) as well as moderate multi-tasking.

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 700 MHz, the performance should be roughly on par with the older HD Graphics (Braswell). This means only older and simpler titles like Counter-Strike: GO or Diablo 3 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

Similar to the predecessor, Intel specifies the TDP with 6 Watts (SDP 4 Watts – Scenario Design Power). The chip can therefore be cooled passively in theory, but SKUs with fans are possible as well.

AMD A6-9225

The AMD A6-9225 is an entry-level chip from the Stoney-Ridge APU series for notebooks (7th APU generation), which was announced mid 2018. Compared to the one year older A4-9220, the A4-9225 has a 200 MHz higher CPU Boost clock but a slower iGPU. It integrates two CPU cores (one Excavator module with 2 integer and one FP unit) clocked at 2.6 GHz to 3.1 GHz. It also includes a Radeon R4 GPU, probably with 192 shaders at up to 686 MHz, as well as a single-channel DDR4-2133 memory controller, H.265 video decoder and chipset with all I/O ports.

Architecture

Stoney Ridge is the successor to the Carrizo architecture and the design is almost identical. Thanks to optimized manufacturing processes and more aggressive Boost behavior, however, the clocks are a bit higher at the same power consumption. The memory controller now also supports DDR4-RAM, in this case up to 2133 MHz. Stoney Ridge is the designation for the smaller dual-core and single-core chip, while Bristol Ridge is the bigger quad-core chip with dual-channel memory controller. More technical details are available in the following articles:

• AMD's Bristol Ridge and Stoney Ridge Architecture
• AMD: Bristol Ridge APUs announced

Performance

The average 9225 in our database proves to be a very, very, very slow processor, its multi-thread benchmark scores only just matching those of the Core 2 Duo P8600 (a dual-core CPU that saw the light of day in 2008). This is a record-breakingly poor performance and a warning to anyone looking to purchase a system built around this specific A6 series CPU.

Graphics

The integrated Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU is probably similar to the R5 with 192 active shader units (3 compute cores), but a reduced clock of just 686 MHz instead of 800 MHz. More details about the GPU are available in the linked articles above.

Power consumption

This AMD A6 series chip has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W. Laptop makers are allowed to reduce that value somewhat, 10 W being the lower limit, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly as a result. By going for the lowest value, it will be possible to build a passively cooled system around the APU.

Last but not the least, the A6-9225 is built with a 28 nm process leading to very, very low energy efficiency, as of 2022.