Celeron N2940 vs i3-550

Place in the ranking	2442	2736
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.07	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Celeron
Power efficiency	1.31	8.86
Architecture codename	Clarkdale (2010−2011)	Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)
Release date	30 May 2010 (14 years ago)	22 May 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$101	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940 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	2 (Dual-core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	3.2 GHz	1.83 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	2.25 GHz
Bus rate	2.5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	56K (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512K (per core)
L3 cache	4 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm
Die size	81 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	382 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940 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	1
Socket	FCLGA1156	FCBGA1170
Power consumption (TDP)	73 Watt	7.5 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data
Smart Connect	no data	+
FDI	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940 are enumerated here.

VT-d	no data	-
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	16.38 GB	8 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	21.32 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors	Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	+	-
Graphics max frequency	no data	854 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	4
USB revision	no data	3.0 and 2.0
Total number of SATA ports	no data	2
Number of USB ports	no data	5

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.

i3-550 1.05
+54.4%

Celeron N2940 0.68

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.

i3-550 1609
+54.1%

Celeron N2940 1044

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i3-550 428
+156%

Celeron N2940 167

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i3-550 872
+74.4%

Celeron N2940 500

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.05	0.68
Recency	30 May 2010	22 May 2014
Physical cores	2	4
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	73 Watt	7 Watt

i3-550 has a 54.4% higher aggregate performance score.

Celeron N2940, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more physical cores, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 942.9% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-550 is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron N2940 in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-550 is a desktop processor while Celeron N2940 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-550 and Celeron N2940, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.