i3-N305 vs Pentium 957

Primary details

Comparing Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	not rated	1038
Place by popularity	not in top-100	43
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Pentium	no data
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date	13 June 2011 (13 years ago)	3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$134	no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 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)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	2	8
Base clock speed	1.2 GHz	0.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	1.2 GHz	3.8 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	12	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	768 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	4 MB
L3 cache	2 MB	6 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	131 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	504 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 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	FCBGA1023	FCBGA1264
Power consumption (TDP)	17 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	+	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
My WiFi	-	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
GPIO	no data	+
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Status	Discontinued	Launched

Security technologies

Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	no data
OS Guard	no data	+
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size	8.01 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	2	1
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)	Intel UHD Graphics
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Graphics max frequency	800 MHz	1.25 GHz
Execution Units	no data	32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	3
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096 x 2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	4096 x 2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12.1
OpenGL	no data	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305.

PCIe version	2.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	9
USB revision	no data	2.0/3.2

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

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Pros & cons summary

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Recency	13 June 2011	3 January 2023
Physical cores	2	8
Threads	2	8
Power consumption (TDP)	17 Watt	15 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium 957 and Core i3-N305, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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