Intel Celeron N5095 vs Intel Core i7-3540M vs Intel Core i7-3632QM

Intel Celeron N5095

The Celeron N5095 is an inexpensive quad-core SoC of the Jasper Lake product family designed for use in affordable SFF desktops and laptops. It features four Tremont CPU cores running at 2 GHz that Boost to up to 2.9 GHz with no thread-doubling Hyper-Threading technology in sight. A pretty basic iGPU is present as well.

The only difference between the N5095 and the N5095A is that the latter comes with support for more proprietary Intel technologies such as the Smart Sound DSP, Wake on Voice and HD Audio.

Architecture and Features

Tremont brings many improvements over Goldmont Plus, the architecture that we know from the N5030 and myriads of other N-class CPUs. An up to 30% boost in single-thread performance is to be expected thanks to smarter prefetchers, branch prediction improvements and other refinements, according to Intel. These new chips are physically larger than their immediate predecessors as a result. Either way, this is still a "small" core rather than a "big" one according to ChipsAndCheese.

The Celeron has 1.5 MB of L2 and 4 MB of L3 cache and is compatible with DDR4-2933 and LPDDR4x-2933 memory or slower. Support for Intel CNVi Wi-Fi 6 modules is baked into the chip, as are 8 PCIe 3.0 lanes for NVMe SSD speeds up to 3.9 GB/s. USB 4 or Thunderbolt aren't supported however.

Please also note that the Celeron gets soldered to the motherboard (BGA1338 socket interface) for good and is thus not user-replaceable.

Performance

The average N5095 in our database is about as fast as the Core i3-10110U, Core i3-1005G1, Celeron N5105 and also the Ryzen 3 3200U in multi-threaded workloads. Which is just enough for the most basic of tasks in late 2024.

Performance will get a significant hit if the power target is set to 10 W or 6 W instead of the Intel-recommended 15 W value.

Graphics

The DirectX 12.1-capable 16 EU UHD Graphics runs at up to 750 MHz and is in many respects similar to what Ice Lake CPUs come equipped with. This graphics adapter is capable of driving up to 3 SUHD displays simultaneously; HEVC, AVC, VP9, MPEG-2 and other popular video codecs can all be hardware-decoded. AV1 and VVC can't.

As far as gaming is concerned, it is reasonable to expect playable framerates in really old games (like Dota 2 Reborn) provided one sticks to lower resolutions such as HD 720p.

Power consumption

While most N-class chips have a 6 W long-term power target, the Celeron N5095 has a 15 W TDP to mimic much faster U-class Core processors. This isn't a great CPU for passively cooled designs.

The N5095 is built with the same 10 nm Intel process as Ice Lake-U processors for pretty unimpressive power efficiency, as of late 2024.

Intel Core i7-3540M

The Intel Core i7-3540M is the fastest dual-core processor for laptops based on the Ivy Bridge architecture at the time of introduction in Q1 2013. Due to Hyperthreading, the two cores can handle up to four threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 3.0 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.5 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.7 GHz (for 1 active core). As its Sandy-Bridge-based predecessor Core i7-2640M, it offers a 4 MB L3-Cache.

Ivy Bridge is an enhanced die shrink of the Sandy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm (versus 32nm Sandy Bridge CPUs) and are the first to introduce 3D transistors for increased energy efficiency when compared to similarly clocked Sandy Bridge processors. Other new features are integrated PCI Express 3.0 and  DDR3(L)-1600 support.

The performance of the Core i7-3540M is slightly above a similarly clocked Sandy Bridge processor due to the architectural improvements. As a result, overall performance is about 5 - 10 % above the old i7-2640M.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 offers 16 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 650 MHz up to 1300 MHz with Turbo Boost, making it one of the fastest variants.

Just like most other Ivy Bridge dual-cores, the i7-3540M is rated at a TDP of 35 W. Therefore, even smaller laptops can use the Core i7.

Intel Core i7-3632QM

The Intel Core i7-3632QM is a fast quad-core processor for laptops based on the Ivy Bridge architecture and successor of the i7-3612QM. It is the fastest mobile processor rated at 35 Watt (at the time of announcement in Q3 2012). Due to Hyperthreading, the four cores can handle up to eight threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.2 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.1 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.2 GHz (for 1 active core). Compared to other quad core CPUs, the 3632QM is specified at a TDP of only 35 Watt (similar to the dual-core CPUs). The BGA version (that is directly soldered to the mainboard) supports VT-d virtualization, whereas the rPGA version does not. Both don't support vPro and Trusted Execution, but otherwise all Ivy Bridge features like AES or VT-x are useable.

Ivy Bridge is an enhanced die shrink of the Sandy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm (versus 32nm Sandy Bridge CPUs) and are the first to introduce 3D transistors for increased energy efficiency when compared to similarly clocked Sandy Bridge processors. Other new features are integrated PCI Express 3.0 and  DDR3(L)-1600 support.

The performance of the Core i7-3632QM is slightly above a similarly clocked Sandy Bridge processor due to the architectural improvements. As a result, overall performance is slightly above the Sandy Bridge Core i7-2820QM. Altough the 3632QM has a higher model number than the 3630QM, it offers slower clock rates and therefore performs worse. However, the 3630QM is specified at a much higher TDP of 45 Watt.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 offers 16 Execution Units (EUs) and is clocked at 650 MHz (base) up to 1150 MHz (Turbo Boost).

With a TDP of only 35 Watt, the Core i7-3632QM is specified at the level of the dual-core mobile CPUs. Therefore, even smaller laptops can use the Core i7.