Intel Core 3 N355

The Intel Core 3 N355 (sometimes referred to as the Intel Processor N355) is a mobile processor of the Twin Lake family which is mostly identical to Alder Lake-N, an architecture that will turn 4 in H2 2025. The chip is meant for entry-level laptops, tablets and mini PCs; it offers 8 Efficient (Gracemont) cores that run at up to 3.9 GHz but no Performance cores.

The E-cores do not support Hyper-Threading. No extra threads here.

Performance

The performance of the Core 3 CPU depends heavily on the cooling solution and TDP settings of the system. Provided both are good enough, it will deliver multi-thread benchmark cores on par with older quad-core CPUs like the Ryzen 3 5300U and Core i7-1165G7, which should be enough to run most day-to-day tasks in 2025. Its single-core performance is much less impressive due to the lack of P-cores.

The Alder Lake-N Core i3-N305 (8 cores, up to 3.8 GHz) that was introduced in early 2023 should be just a few percentage points slower than the N355.

Graphics

The SoC comes equipped with a Xe-architecture graphics unit with 32 EUs (Execution Units) running at up to 1.35 GHz. The iGPU can drive up to 3 UHD 2160p monitors and hardware-decodes AV1 among other popular video codecs. Due to the low number of Xe cores and the single-channel RAM restriction, gaming performance is only good enough for older games and fairly low resolutions. GTA V is perfectly playable at 768p on Medium.

Architecture and Features

The integrated memory controller supports single-channel DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800 and LPDDR5-4800 RAM. PCIe NVMe SSD speeds are capped at 3.9 GB/s, corresponding to the PCIe 3 spec. There is no Thunderbolt / USB 4 support here, however, the latest Intel CNVi Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking modules are supported.

Its L3 cache is relatively small at 6 MB, and it has no proper NPU (and thus no Copilot+ branding).

Power consumption

The Intel Core 3 N355 is supposed to consume 15 watts when under longer loads. This is the Intel-recommended PL1 for the chip. While no data on PL2 has been provided, we do know that Asus has given the Core 3 a power limit of 35 watts (PL2) in the NUC 14 Essential.

The SoC is manufactured using the second-generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 meaning power efficiency isn't great here compared to the latest 3 nm silicon from the likes of Apple.

Codename	Twin Lake
Series	Intel Alder Lake-N
Series: Alder Lake-N Twin Lake Intel Core 3 N355 « 3 - 3.9 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core 3 N350 - 3.9 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N250 - 3.8 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N150 - 3.6 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3
Clock Rate	3000 - 3900 MHz
Level 1 Cache	768 KB
Level 2 Cache	4 MB
Level 3 Cache	6 MB
Number of Cores / Threads	8 / 8 8 x 3.9 GHz Intel Gracemont E-Core
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power)	15 Watt
Manufacturing Technology	10 nm
Socket	BGA1264
Features	DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800/LPDDR5-4800 RAM (sin. chan.), PCIe 3, GNA, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, VMX, SMEP, SMAP, EIST, TM1, TM2, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 32EUs (Alder Lake) ( - 1350 MHz)
64 Bit	64 Bit support
Architecture	x86
Announcement Date	01/06/2025
Product Link (external)	www.intel.com

Benchmarks