Celeron 2980U vs Atom C3538
Aggregate performance score
Atom C3538 outperforms Celeron 2980U by an impressive 80% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2347 | 2736 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.04 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Atom | Intel Celeron |
| Power efficiency | 7.51 | 4.16 |
| Architecture codename | Goldmont (2016−2017) | Haswell (2013−2015) |
| Release date | 15 August 2017 (7 years ago) | 1 September 2013 (11 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $75 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U basic parameters such as 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 2.1 GHz | 1.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.1 GHz | 1.6 GHz |
| Bus rate | no data | 5 GT/s |
| Multiplier | 21 | no data |
| L1 cache | 224 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 8 MB | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 2 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 22 nm |
| Die size | no data | 118 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 87 °C | 100 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 1,400 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U 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 | 1 (Uniprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | FCBGA1310 | FCBGA1168 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 15 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| QuickAssist | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Smart Response | no data | - |
| GPIO | no data | + |
| Smart Connect | no data | + |
| FDI | no data | - |
| AMT | no data | 9.5 |
| Matrix Storage | no data | - |
| HD Audio | no data | + |
| RST | no data | + |
Security technologies
Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Boot | + | no data |
| Secure Key | + | + |
| SGX | - | no data |
| OS Guard | + | - |
| Anti-Theft | no data | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-d | + | - |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4: 2133 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 256 GB | 16 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 29.871 GB/s | 25.6 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel® HD Graphics for 4th Generation Intel® Processors |
| Clear Video | no data | + |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 1 GHz |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 3 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U.
| PCIe version | 3 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 12 | 12 |
| PCI support | no data | - |
| USB revision | 3 | 3.0 |
| Total number of SATA ports | 12 | 4 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | 12 | 2 |
| Integrated IDE | no data | - |
| Number of USB ports | 8 | 4 |
| Integrated LAN | 2x10/2.5/1 GBE + 2x2.5/1 GBE | - |
| UART | no data | + |
Synthetic benchmark performance
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. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.19 | 0.66 |
| Recency | 15 August 2017 | 1 September 2013 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 22 nm |
Atom C3538 has a 80.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.
The Atom C3538 is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron 2980U in performance tests.
Be aware that Atom C3538 is a server/workstation processor while Celeron 2980U is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Atom C3538 and Celeron 2980U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
