Intel Pentium Gold 6405U vs Intel Core i5-1038NG7 vs Intel Celeron 5205U

Intel Pentium Gold 6405U

The Intel Pentium Gold 6405U is a power efficient entry-level dual-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in October 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake Pentium 5405U processors, the difference is the higher clock speed (+100 MHz) and support for faster memory. The processor cores are clocked at 2.4 GHz (no Turbo). Thanks to HyperThreading 4 threads can be used. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Due to the 100 MHz higher clock speed, the Pentium Gold 6405U should be slightly faster than the old Pentium 5405U and therefore in the entry level of mobile processors. The missing Turbo and only two cores are definitely a downside and therefore the CPU is best used for simple tasks like browsing and office programs. Compared to the faster Core i3, i5 and i7 Comet Lake models, the Pentium does not support SSE (2).

The integrated graphics card is still the same as in the previous generations. It is called only Intel UHD Graphics but is still the same Intel UHD Graphics 610 like in the Pentium 5405U. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel LPDDR3-2133/DDR4-2400 memory controller (compared to DDR4-2666 in the faster Core i3).

The chip is still produced in the 14nm++ process as Whiskey Lake. The TDP (PL1) is specified at 15 Watts but can be lowered to 12.5 Watt although the CPU then only runs at 800 MHz.

Intel Core i5-1038NG7

The Intel Core i5-1038NG7 or Core i5-1038G7 is a quad-core SoC for laptops and Ultrabooks based on the Ice-Lake-U generation that was announced in Mai 2020 in the refreshed MacBook Pro 13. It integrates four Sunnycove processor cores (8 threads thanks to HyperThreading) clocked at 2 (base) - 3.8 (single core Turbo) GHz. According to Intel the Sunnycove cores achieve 18% more IPCs (Instructions per Clock) and therefore the CPU performance should be similar to the higher clocked Whiskey-Lake and Coffee-Lake predecessors (e.g. Core i7-8559U, 2.7 - 4.5 GHz). The Core i5-1038G7 is the second fastest 28W model of the Ice Lake family after the Core i7-1068G7.

The biggest improvement for Ice-Lake is the integrated Gen 11 graphics card called Iris Plus Graphics. The Core i5-1035G7 integrates the biggest G7 variant with 64 CUs clocked at 300 - 1100? MHz. The Iris Plus G7 should be twice as fast as the predecessors and best the AMD Vega 10 GPU in current Ryzen APUs.

Other improvements for Ice Lake are the AI hardware acceleration and the partial integration of Thunderbolt and Wifi 6 in the chip. The integrated DDR4 memory controller supports modules with up to 3200 MHz (and LPDDDR4 3733).

The Core i5-1038G7 is produced in the new  10nm process at Intel that should offer a comparable performance to the 7nm process at TSMC. The TDP is specified at 28 Watts and therefore the CPU is best used in small multimedia laptops from 13-inch upwards (e.g. like a MacBook Pro 13).

Intel Celeron 5205U

The Intel Celeron 5205U is a power efficient entry-level dual-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in October 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake Celeron 4205U processors, the difference is the higher clock speed (+100 MHz) and support for faster memory. The processor cores are clocked at only 1.9 GHz (no Turbo) and don't support SMT / HyperThreading (so only 2 threads). More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

The integrated graphics adapter is still the same as in the previous generations. It is called only Intel UHD Graphics but is still the same Intel UHD Graphics 610 like in the Pentium 4205U. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel LPDDR3-2133/DDR4-2400 memory controller (compared to DDR4-2666 in the faster and costlier Core i3/i5/i7 processors).

Performance

While we have not tested a single system powered by the 5205U as of August 2023, it's safe to expect the chip to be about half as fast as the Core i3-10110U (Comet Lake, 2 cores, 4 threads, up to 4.1 GHz). Which is nothing to write home about, really, as of mid 2022.

Power consumption

This Celeron has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W. Intel officialy allows laptop manufacturers to reduce that value somewhat, 12.5 W being the lower limit, resulting in lower clock speeds and lower performance. Unlike most Comet Lake family processors, Celeron 5205U is fairly likely to actually stick to that limitation as its cores are not Boost-enabled.

Last but not the least, this CPU is manufactured on an old, as of late 2022, 14 nm Intel process making for subpar energy efficiency.