Apple M3 Max 14-Core vs Atom N550
Aggregate performance score
M3 Max 14-Core outperforms Atom N550 by a whopping 12165% 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 | 3567 | 339 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Atom | Apple M3 |
| Power efficiency | 0.80 | 11.28 |
| Designer | Intel | Apple |
| Manufacturer | Intel | no data |
| Architecture codename | Pineview (2009−2011) | no data |
| Release date | 23 August 2010 (15 years ago) | 30 October 2023 (2 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $86 | no data |
Detailed specifications
Basic parameters of Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core: 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 | 2 (Dual-core) | 14 (Tetradeca-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 14 |
| Base clock speed | 1.5 GHz | 2.748 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1.5 GHz | 4.06 GHz |
| Bus rate | 666 MHz | no data |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | no data |
| L2 cache | 512K (per core) | no data |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | no data |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 3 nm |
| Die size | 87 mm2 | no data |
| Number of transistors | 176 million | 92000 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core 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 | no data |
| Socket | FCBGA559 | no data |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 8.5 Watt | 78 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3 | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
Security technologies
Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core 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 Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core are enumerated here.
| VT-d | - | no data |
| VT-x | - | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Atom N550 and M3 Max 14-Core. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | no data |
| Maximum memory size | 2 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 1 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel GMA 3150 | Apple M3 Max 30-Core GPU |
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 | 0.17 | 20.85 |
| Recency | 23 August 2010 | 30 October 2023 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 14 |
| Threads | 4 | 14 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 3 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 8 Watt | 78 Watt |
Atom N550 has 875% lower power consumption.
Apple M3 Max 14-Core, on the other hand, has a 12165% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 13 years, 600% more physical cores and 250% more threads, and a 1400% more advanced lithography process.
The Apple M3 Max 14-Core is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Atom N550 in performance tests.
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