Atom N270 vs Apple M5 Max
Aggregate performance score
M5 Max outperforms Atom N270 by a whopping 41875% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 172 | 3806 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Atom |
| Power efficiency | no data | 1.32 |
| Designer | Apple | Intel |
| Architecture codename | no data | DiamondVille (2008−2009) |
| Release date | 3 March 2026 (less than a year ago) | 2 April 2008 (18 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $44 |
Detailed specifications
Basic parameters of M5 Max and Atom N270: number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 18 (Octadeca-Core) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 18 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 3.048 GHz | 1.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.61 GHz | 0.1 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | FSB |
| Bus rate | no data | 533.33 MT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 12 |
| L1 cache | no data | 56 KB |
| L2 cache | 32 MB | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 24 MB | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | no data | 25.9638 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 90 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 47 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
| Windows 11 compatibility | no data | - |
| VID voltage range | no data | 0.9V-1.1625V |
Compatibility
Information on M5 Max and Atom N270 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | no data | 1 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | no data | PBGA437 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 2.5 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by M5 Max and Atom N270. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE, Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3 |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | - |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
Security technologies
M5 Max and Atom N270 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by M5 Max and Atom N270 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | - |
| VT-x | no data | - |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by M5 Max and Atom N270. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR2 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 8 GB |
Synthetic benchmarks
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 33.58 | 0.08 |
| Recency | 3 March 2026 | 2 April 2008 |
| Physical cores | 18 | 1 |
| Threads | 18 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 45 nm |
Apple M5 Max has a 41875% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 17 years, 1700% more physical cores and 800% more threads, and a 1400% more advanced lithography process.
The Apple M5 Max is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Atom N270 in performance tests.
Other comparisons
We've compiled a selection of CPU comparisons, ranging from closely matched processors to other comparisons that may be of interest.
