Intel Atom Z3735F vs Intel Atom x5-Z8550

Intel Atom Z3735F

The Intel Atom Z3735F is a power-efficient quad-core SoC for tablets (mainly Android). It is clocked at 1.33 - 1.83 GHz and is part of the Bay Trail-T platform. Thanks to the specially optimized 22nm low-power design process (P1271) with Tri-Gate transistors, performance and energy efficiency have been significantly improved compared to its predecessor. In contrast to the Z3735D, the Z3735F comes in a different BGA package.

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, and 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 additions 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 4 CPU cores and the improved performance per clock, the Z3735F is significantly faster than previous Intel Atoms like the Z2760. Depending on the benchmark, the Z3735F competes with AMDs Temash and Kabini APUs like the A6-1450 and A4-5000. For everyday tasks such as Internet or Office the performance is adequate, but not for very complex software or modern games. Compared to ARM SoCs for Android systems, the Z3735F is placed in the upper mid-range segment.

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 646 MHz, the GPU is even slower than the HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge). Therefore, only older and less demanding games (like simple Android titles) will run fluently. However, video acceleration and other multimedia applications are no problem for the chip.

Power Consumption

The entire SoC is rated at an SDP of 2.2 W, which indicates a TDP of less than 4 W. Thus, the chip can be used in passively cooled tablets.

Intel Atom x5-Z8550

The Intel Atom x5-Z8550 is a power efficient quad-core SoC for Windows and Android devices (tablets and convertibles), which has been presented in February 2016. It is clocked at 1.44 - 2.4 GHz and part of the Cherry Trail platform. Thanks to its new 14 nanometer low-power process (P1273) with tri-gate transistors, energy efficiency has been significantly improved over its predecessor Bay Trail-T (e.g. Atom Z3795). In addition to the CPU cores, the SoC offers a DirectX 11.2-capable GPU as well as a LPDDR3 Memory Controller (2x 64 bit, 25.6 GB/s). Compared to the previous year x5-Z8500, the boost clock speed gained 160 MHz (from 2.24 to 2.4 GHz).

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.

Performance

Compared to the Atom x7-Z8700, the Atom x5-Z8550 offers a similar boost speed and should therefore perform on a similar level. Compared to ARM-based SoCs it should offer a similar performance as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (CPU wise). 

Using Windows, the chip is adequate for everyday tasks such as Internet or Office, but not for very complex software or modern games.

Graphics

The HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) was renamed to Intel HD Graphics 400 in this generation. It is still 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 about twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail) and will handle older and less demandig Windows games (e.g. Counter-Strike: GO) in very low settings at decent frame rates. The GPU also supports 4K/H.265 video acceleration.

Compared to ARM SoCs, the HD Graphics offers a performance similar to the Qualcomm Adreno 330 or PowerVR G6430.

Power Consumption

The entire SoC is rated at an SDP of 2 watts, which indicates a TDP of less than 4 watts. Thus, the chip can be used in passively cooled tablets.