Intel Processor N100 vs Intel Core i5-10400H vs Intel Processor N97
Intel Processor N100
► remove from comparison
The Intel Processor N100 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with 1 to 3.4 GHz. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache.
Performance
The average N100 in our database delivers unimpressive multi-thread benchmark scores that are most similar to those of the Core i3-1115G4. The chip is fast enough for many day-to-day tasks, but not much more than that; the other thing to keep in mind is that of the two N100-toting systems tested by us as of October 2023, both have rather high CPU power limits. The chip will be noticeably slower if limited to just six or seven Watts.
Features
The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).
The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers only 24 of the 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at only 450 - 750 MHz. Due to the single channel memory, low clock speeds, and low shader count, the gaming performance of the iGPU is very limited.
Power consumption
The N100 has a base power consumption of only 6 W and is therefore suited for fanless cooling. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).
Intel Core i5-10400H
► remove from comparison
The Intel Core i5-10400H is a fast processor for laptops with four cores based on the Comet Lake-H series (4th generation of Skylake architecture). The processor clocks at between 2.6 and 4.6 GHz (up to 4.4 with 4 cores) and can execute up to eight threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured in 14nm (14nm++) process.
The Comet Lake architecture is similar to Coffee Lake and offers the same features and is produced in the same 14nm process. Other than the improved clock rates, the memory controller now also supports faster DDR4-2933 RAM. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.
The Core i5-10400H supports the management features vPro, TXT and SIPP.
Performance
The performance should be slightly better than the old Core i7-8809G (Quad-Core 3.1 - 4.2) which was the fastest mobile quad core by Intel.
Graphics
The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is supposed to offer a similar performance as the UHD630 in the Core i5-9300H. As a low-end solution it will probably only run current games smoothly at reduced details - if at all.
Power Consumption
Intel specifies the TDP with 45 watts and therefore the i5 is only suited for big laptops with good cooling solutions. Using cTDP-down, the CPU can also be configured to 35 Watt resulting in a reduced performance.
Intel Processor N97
► remove from comparison
The Intel Processor N97 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with up to 3.7 GHz. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache.
Performance
The performance should be between the Intel Processor N100 and Intel Processor N200 and clearly below the Core i3-N300 and N305 due to the reduced core count.
Features
The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).
The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers only 24 of the 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at 1200 MHz. Due to the single channel memory, low clock speeds, and low shader count, the gaming performance of the iGPU is very limited.
Power consumption
The N97 has a base power consumption of 12 W and therefore double the amount of the N100. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).
Model | Intel Processor N100 | Intel Core i5-10400H | Intel Processor N97 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Alder Lake-N | Comet Lake-H | Alder Lake-N | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Intel Alder Lake-N | Intel Comet Lake | Intel Alder Lake-N | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Alder Lake-N Alder Lake-N |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clock | 1000 - 3400 MHz | 2600 - 4600 MHz | <=3600 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 6 MB | 8 MB | 6 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 4 / 4 4 x 3.4 GHz Intel Crestmont E-Core | 4 / 8 | 4 / 4 4 x 3.6 GHz Intel Crestmont E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 6 Watt | 45 Watt | 12 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 10 nm | 14 nm | 10 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 105 °C | 100 °C | 105 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | BGA1264 | FCBGA1440 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | Dual-Channel DDR4 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX, AVX2, Quick Sync, Virtualization, AES-NI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 750 MHz) | Intel UHD Graphics 630 (350 - 1100 MHz) | Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 1200 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | x86 | x86 | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$128 U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | ark.intel.com | ark.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 256 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 1 MB |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Intel Processor N100 → 100% n=28
Average Benchmarks Intel Core i5-10400H → 167% n=28
Average Benchmarks Intel Processor N97 → 113% n=28

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation