Intel Processor N97 vs Intel Core i7-4790 vs Intel Core i7-4790T

Intel Processor N97

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).

Intel Core i7-4790

The Intel Core i7-4790 is a high end quad-core desktop processor using the Haswell architecture. It clocks at 3.6 - 4 GHz and can run 8 threads at once thanks to HyperThreading. Compared to the similar named Core i7-4790K, the 4790 clocks a bit lower and offers no open multiplier for overclocking. The TDP is rated at 84 Watt and therefore suited for Desktop-PCs and large laptops.

Intel Core i7-4790T

The Intel Core i7-4790T is a desktop processor based on the Haswell architecture. It was announced in the second quarter of 2014 and integrates four cores (8 threads) that clock between 2.7 - 3.9 GHz.