Processor N97 vs Pentium B980

#ad 
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregate performance score

Pentium B980
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.68
Processor N97
2023
4 cores / 4 threads, 12 Watt
3.45
+407%

Processor N97 outperforms Pentium B980 by a whopping 407% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium B980 and Processor N97 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking27171545
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Pentiumno data
Power efficiency1.8427.21
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date1 September 2012 (12 years ago)3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$125no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium B980 and Processor N97 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 cores2 (Dual-core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads24
Base clock speed2.4 GHz2 GHz
Boost clock speed2.4 GHz3.6 GHz
Bus typeDMI 2.0no data
Bus rate4 × 5 GT/sno data
Multiplier24no data
L1 cache64K (per core)96 KB (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)2 MB (shared)
L3 cache2 MB (shared)6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm10 nm
Die size131 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature85 °C105 °C
Number of transistors504 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium B980 and Processor N97 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
SocketFCPGA988,PGA988Intel BGA 1264
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt12 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium B980 and Processor N97. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

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

Security technologies

Pentium B980 and Processor N97 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium B980 and Processor N97 are enumerated here.

VT-d-+
VT-x-+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium B980 and Processor N97. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4, DDR5 4800 MHz Single-channel
Maximum memory size16 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth21.335 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel ProcessorsIntel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 1200 MHz)
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHzno data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium B980 and Processor N97 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported2no data
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
SDVO+no data
CRT+no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium B980 and Processor N97.

PCIe version2.03.0
PCI Express lanes169

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.

Pentium B980 0.68
Processor N97 3.45
+407%

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.

Pentium B980 3109
Processor N97 5445
+75.1%

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.

Pentium B980 5879
Processor N97 15323
+161%

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Pentium B980 2463
Processor N97 6461
+162%

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.

Pentium B980 32.93
Processor N97 16.82
+95.8%

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.

Pentium B980 2
Processor N97 6
+226%

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.

Pentium B980 0.94
Processor N97 1.94
+106%

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.

Pentium B980 0.2
Processor N97 2.9
+1511%

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.  

Pentium B980 10
Processor N97 35
+248%

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.  

Pentium B980 55
Processor N97 175
+218%

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.

Pentium B980 1435
Processor N97 2321
+61.7%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.68 3.45
Integrated graphics card 0.77 2.32
Recency 1 September 2012 3 January 2023
Physical cores 2 4
Threads 2 4
Chip lithography 32 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 35 Watt 12 Watt

Processor N97 has a 407.4% higher aggregate performance score, 201.3% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 10 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, a 220% more advanced lithography process, and 191.7% lower power consumption.

The Processor N97 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium B980 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium B980 and Processor N97, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Pentium B980
Pentium B980
Intel Processor N97
Processor N97

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.4 198 votes

Rate Pentium B980 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.3 190 votes

Rate Processor N97 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Pentium B980 or Processor N97, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.