Celeron N4020C vs i5-540M

Place in the ranking	2395	2500
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i5	no data
Power efficiency	3.06	15.30
Architecture codename	Arrandale (2010−2011)	no data
Release date	7 January 2010 (14 years ago)	1 January 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$257	no data

Detailed specifications

Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C 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)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	2
Base clock speed	2.53 GHz	1.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.07 GHz	2.8 GHz
Bus type	DMI 1.0	no data
Bus rate	1 × 2.5 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	19	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256K (per core)	no data
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	4 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Die size	81+114 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	382+177 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C 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	BGA1288,PGA988	FCBGA1090
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	6 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	+	-
vPro	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	-
Turbo Boost Technology	+	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Smart Response	no data	-
PAE	36 Bit	no data
GPIO	no data	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	-
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
MPX	-	+
Identity Protection	-	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	no data	+
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4/LPDDR4 up to 2400 MT/s
Maximum memory size	8 GB	8 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	17.051 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel Processors	Intel UHD Graphics 600
Max video memory	no data	8 GB
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video	+	no data
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	766 MHz	650 MHz
Execution Units	no data	12

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	3
eDP	no data	+
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+
MIPI-DSI	no data	+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096x2160@30Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	4096x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	4096x2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12
OpenGL	no data	4.4

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	6
USB revision	no data	2.0/3.0
Total number of SATA ports	no data	2
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	no data	2
Number of USB ports	no data	8
Integrated LAN	no data	-
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.

i5-540M 1.13
+16.5%

Celeron N4020C 0.97

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.

i5-540M 1802
+17.5%

Celeron N4020C 1534

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.13	0.97
Integrated graphics card	0.77	0.87
Recency	7 January 2010	1 January 2021
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	6 Watt

i5-540M has a 16.5% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.

Celeron N4020C, on the other hand, has 13% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 10 years, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 483.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-540M is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron N4020C in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-540M and Celeron N4020C, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.