Intel Celeron N3050 vs Intel Celeron N2920 vs Intel Celeron N3060

Intel Celeron N3050

The Intel Celeron N3050 is a low-end dual-core SoC for notebooks, which has been presented in April 2015. It is clocked at 1.6 - 2.16 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 N2840). 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 leads to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and a therefore somewhat higher overall performance.

Performance

Compared to its predecessor Celeron N2815 (1.86 - 2.13 GHz), the N3050 offers an almost identical performance. Using Windows, the CPU is adequate for simple everyday tasks such as light Internet browsing or office applications, but not for complex software or modern games.

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 600 MHz, the GPU is almost twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail), but still not powerful enough to handle modern 3D games. 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.

Intel Celeron N2920

The Intel Celeron N2920 is a power efficient quad-core SoC for entry-level notebooks. It is clocked at 1.86 - 2.0 GHz and part of the Bay Trail-M platform. Thanks to the specially optimized 22 nanometer low-power process (P1271) with tri-gate transistors, performance and energy efficiency have been significantly improved compared to previous Intel Atom CPUs.

Architecture

The processor cores are based on the new Silvermont architecture, which is an out-of-order design for the first time. The increased utilization of the pipeline and many other improvements (optimized branch prediction, increased buffers, enhanced decoders) have increased the performance per clock by about 50 percent. At the same time, however, the Hyper-Threading feature of the previous generation has been removed. Other major changes are the support for new instruction set extensions such as SSE 4.1 and 4.2 as well as AES-NI (depending on the model).

Performance

Thanks to the improved performance per clock and the 4 cores, the Celeron N2920 is significantly faster than previous Intel Atoms, e.g. the N2800. On average, the N2920 competes with AMDs Kabini APU A4-5000. For most everyday tasks such as Internet or Office the performance is adequate, but not for complex software or modern games.

Graphics

The HD Graphics (Bay Trail) is based on the Intel Gen7 architecture, which supports DirectX 11 and is also found in the Ivy Bridge series (e.g. HD Graphics 4000). With only 4 EUs (Execution Units) and a relatively low clock speed of up to 844 MHz, the GPU is even slower than the HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge). Therefore, only older and less demanding games will run fluently.

Power Consumption

The entire SoC is rated at a TDP of 7.5 watts. Thus, the chip can be used in compact subnotebooks and doesn't require extensive cooling systems.

Intel Celeron N3060

The Intel Celeron N3060 is a low-end dual-core SoC for notebooks, which has been presented in April 2015. It is clocked at 1.6 - 2.48 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 architecture Bay Trail (e.g. Celeron N2840). The N3060 is successor (refresh) to the Celeron N3050 and compared to it it offers a improved Turbo clock rate (2.48 vs 2.1 GHZ).

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 leads to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and a therefore somewhat higher overall performance.

Performance

Depending on the cooling of the SoC, the Boost clock rate of 2.48 can be held for longer periods and therefore leading to a faster performance as the older Celeron N3050 that can only reach 2.16 GHz. Using Windows, the CPU is adequate for simple everyday tasks such as light Internet browsing or office applications, but not for complex software or modern games.

Graphics

The HD Graphics 400 (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 600 MHz, the GPU is almost twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail), but still not powerful enough to handle modern 3D games. The GPU also supports 4K/H.265 video acceleration. Although featuring a different name, the GPU was not changed from the N3050 (named HD Graphics alone).

Power Consumption

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