Atom Z550 vs Core i7-640M
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 2159 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i7 | Intel Atom |
| Architecture codename | Arrandale (2010−2011) | Silverthorne (2008−2010) |
| Release date | 1 September 2010 (13 years ago) | 8 April 2009 (15 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $346 | no data |
| Current price | $524 (1.5x MSRP) | no data |
Detailed specifications
Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 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) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 2.8 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.46 GHz | 0.1 GHz |
| Bus support | 2500 MHz | 533.33 MT/s |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 56 KB |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 81+114 mm2 | 24.18 mm27.8 mm × 3.1 mm |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 °C | 90 °C |
| Number of transistors | 384 million | 47 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 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 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | BGA1288,PGA988 | PBGA441 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 2.4 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-640M and Atom Z550. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | no data |
| FMA | + | no data |
| vPro | + | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | + | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | + |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
| FDI | + | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
| Status | Discontinued | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | - |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | - |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-640M and Atom Z550. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | no data |
| Maximum memory size | 8 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 17.1 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | - | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors | - |
| Clear Video | + | - |
| Clear Video HD | + | - |
| Graphics max frequency | 766 MHz | - |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-640M and Atom Z550 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-640M and Atom Z550.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 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.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Core i7-640M outperforms Atom Z550 by 445% in Passmark.
Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core
Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.
Benchmark coverage: 20%
Core i7-640M outperforms Atom Z550 by 464% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.
Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.
Benchmark coverage: 19%
Core i7-640M outperforms Atom Z550 by 707% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.
wPrime 32
wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.
Benchmark coverage: 18%
Atom Z550 outperforms Core i7-640M by 476% in wPrime 32.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 September 2010 | 8 April 2009 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 1 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 2 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Core i7-640M and Atom Z550. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-640M and Atom Z550, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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