Intel Celeron N3160 vs Intel Celeron N4020

Intel Celeron N3160

The Intel Celeron N3160 is a quad-core SoC for entry-level notebooks, which has been announced in early 2016. It is clocked at 1.6 - 2.24 GHz (Burst) and part of the Braswell platform. It is manufactured in a modern 14-nm process (P1273) with FinFETs. In addition to the four 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). Compared to the predecessor Celeron N3150, the N3160 has a 160 MHz higher Burst clock.

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 may lead to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and therefore a somewhat higher performance in certain situations. The per-MHz performance is still much lower compared to the more expensive Core series (e. g. Broadwell).

Performance

With 4 CPU cores and a clock between 1.6-2.24 GHz, the technical specifications are similar to the previous Celeron N2930, so the processor performance is only slightly better. This means the processor is well-suited for everyday tasks (office, browsing) and even light multi-tasking should be no problem.

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 640 MHz, however, the GPU performance is much lower. On average, the GPU is almost twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail), so its a bit slower than the older HD Graphics 4000. Only older and simpler titles like Counter Strike: GO will run smoothly. The chip still includes an advanced video unit with support for 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 usually be cooled passively.

Intel Celeron N4020

The Intel Celeron N4020 is a slow dual-core processor (SoC) of the Gemini Lake refresh product family; as such, it is designed for use in laptops and mini-PCs of the most affordable flavor. The Celeron was launched in Q4 2019. Its CPU cores run at 1.1 GHz to 2.8 GHz, the latter being a moderate 200 MHz upgrade over the preceding N4000 chip. Other key specs include a DDR4/LPDDR4 memory controller (up to 2,400 MHz and up to 8 GB, with independent reports claiming as much as 32 GB will work just fine) and an integrated UHD 600 graphics adapter.

Architecture & Features

Just like Apollo Lake family products, the ever-popular N3350 included, the N4020 is manufactured on a really old, as of late 2023, 14 nm process. What makes the newer Celerons different are the slightly improved processor cores with double the L2 cache and also, somewhat counterintuitively, a reduction in physical size.

The Goldmont Plus microarchitecture is not much different from what was used in Gemini Lake processors like the N4000. A relatively large 4 MB L2 cache features prominently on the rather short list of N4020's strong sides, allowing for a marginal increase in performance-per-MHz figures compared to processors of previous generations. Still, Gemini Lake refresh processors are a clear step down from Core i3/i5/i7/i9 series processors, both in performance and in features.

The N4020 has six PCI-Express 2.0 lanes at its disposal. While very few N4020-based SBCs, nettops and laptops feature an NVMe M.2 slot, you can use an NVMe SSD as a boot drive with this processor (read/write rates will be limited to 2 GB/s, though). Furthermore, partial Wi-Fi 5 support is built into the CPU. The Celeron also supports up to eight USB 3.0 ports and two SATA III storage devices.

Please note this is not a user-replaceable CPU. They solder it straight to the motherboard for good (BGA1090 socket interface).

Performance

While slightly faster than the outgoing Celeron N4000, the average N4020 in our extensive database only just manages to match the N6211, as far as multi-thread performance is concerned. These three chips deliver multi-thread CB R15, CB R20 and CB R23 scores that are so low, they lag behind a single-thread score of any half-decent CPU such as an i5-1135G7. In other words, these Celeron N chips are good enough for basic tasks only such as word processing and Web browsing with two or three tabs open at a time.

The Celeron N4120, a quad-core chip with a similar name, has little trouble leaving the N4020 behind in most workloads - which is not to say it is a fast CPU.

Jacking the long-term power limit value up to something like 9 W will help improve system responsiveness noticeably.

Graphics

The UHD Graphics 600 is based on Intel's Generation 9 architecture, much like the  HD Graphics 520 or the UHD Graphics 615 or other widespread Intel iGPUs found in Core i3/i5/i7/i9 processors of generations six to ten.

Just like the HD Graphics 500, the UHD Graphics 600 is DX12 compatible. The iGPU's 12 EUs can run at up to 650 MHz. The Iris Plus G7 iGPU that certain 10th Gen Ice Lake processors have packs 64 EUs, for reference. As a low-end solution, UHD Graphics 600 will let you play some seriously old titles, but that's about as far as its talents go.

Perhaps more importantly, this graphics solution can drive up to 3 monitors with resolutions as high as 4096x2160@60. Furthermore, it will have no trouble HW-decoding AVC, HEVC and VP9-encoded videos. The newer AV1 codec will be decoded via software, with the limited CPU horsepower imposing a limit on video resolutions that can be played back without stuttering. 1080p60 videos are out of reach while 720p25 videos run fine, to give you an example.

Power consumption

The low 6 W TDP (also known as the long-term Power Limit) makes it easy for laptop makers to ditch the fan. Performance sustainability will be poor unless the long-term Power Limit is set to a value higher than the default 6 W and a fan is available to aid in heat dissipation.

The Celeron N4020 is built with one of the old 14 nm Intel processes for poor, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.