Pentium N3540 vs i7-8550U

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-8550U
2017
4 cores / 8 threads, 15 Watt
3.85
+407%
Pentium N3540
2014
4 cores / 4 threads, 7 Watt
0.76

Core i7-8550U outperforms Pentium N3540 by a whopping 407% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking14622661
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Pentium
Power efficiency24.279.58
Architecture codenameKaby Lake Refresh (2017−2019)Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)
Release date21 August 2017 (7 years ago)22 May 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$409$251

Detailed specifications

Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads84
Base clock speed1.8 GHz2.16 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz2.66 GHz
Bus typeOPIno data
Bus rate4 GT/sno data
Multiplier18no data
L1 cache64K (per core)224 KB
L2 cache256K (per core)2 MB
L3 cache8 MB (shared)2 MB L2 Cache
Chip lithography14 nm22 nm
Die size123 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCBGA1356,FC-BGA1356FCBGA1170
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt7.5 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2no data
AES-NI+-
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift+no data
My WiFi+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0-
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access+no data
Smart Response+no data
Smart Connectno data+

Security technologies

Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT-no data
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data
Anti-Theftno data-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3L-1333
Maximum memory size32 GB8 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth38.397 GB/s21.32 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel UHD Graphics 620Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series
Max video memory32 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+-
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHz896 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported32
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hzno data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1211.2
OpenGL4.4no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes124
USB revisionno data3.0 and 2.0
Total number of SATA portsno data2
Number of USB portsno data5

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.

i7-8550U 3.85
+407%
Pentium N3540 0.76

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.

i7-8550U 6118
+409%
Pentium N3540 1201

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.

i7-8550U 878
+357%
Pentium N3540 192

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.

i7-8550U 2622
+378%
Pentium N3540 549

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.

i7-8550U 6423
+371%
Pentium N3540 1364

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.

i7-8550U 17322
+265%
Pentium N3540 4752

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.

i7-8550U 9.9
+121%
Pentium N3540 21.92

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i7-8550U 6
+222%
Pentium N3540 2

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-8550U 553
+253%
Pentium N3540 157

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-8550U 163
+288%
Pentium N3540 42

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i7-8550U 1.89
+278%
Pentium N3540 0.5

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i7-8550U 4.3
+1383%
Pentium N3540 0.3

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i7-8550U 4374
+261%
Pentium N3540 1210

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i7-8550U 33
+198%
Pentium N3540 11

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i7-8550U 148
+172%
Pentium N3540 54

Geekbench 3 32-bit multi-core

i7-8550U 12328
+279%
Pentium N3540 3254

Geekbench 3 32-bit single-core

i7-8550U 3770
+282%
Pentium N3540 988

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.85 0.76
Integrated graphics card 2.67 0.77
Recency 21 August 2017 22 May 2014
Threads 8 4
Chip lithography 14 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 7 Watt

i7-8550U has a 406.6% higher aggregate performance score, 246.8% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more threads, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.

Pentium N3540, on the other hand, has 114.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-8550U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3540 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-8550U and Pentium N3540, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-8550U
Core i7-8550U
Intel Pentium N3540
Pentium N3540

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Community ratings

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