i3-1215U vs Atom 230

Place in the ranking	3377	1029
Place by popularity	not in top-100	17
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Atom	Intel Alder Lake-M
Power efficiency	2.60	43.00
Architecture codename	Silverthorne (2008−2010)	Alder Lake-U (2022)
Release date	2 April 2008 (16 years ago)	23 February 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$29	no data

Detailed specifications

Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U 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	1 (Single-Core)	6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads	2	8
Base clock speed	1.6 GHz	1.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	0.1 GHz	4.4 GHz
Bus type	FSB	no data
Bus rate	533.33 MT/s	no data
Multiplier	12	no data
L1 cache	56 KB	80K (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	10 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	45 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	25.9638 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	85 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	47 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+
VID voltage range	0.9V-1.1625V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U 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	PBGA437	FCBGA1744
Power consumption (TDP)	4 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	-	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	-	no data
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FSB parity	-	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	no data	DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size	8 GB	64 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	-	Intel UHD Graphics for 12th Gen Intel Processors
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Graphics max frequency	-	1.1 GHz
Execution Units	-	64

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	-	4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	-	4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	-	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	-	12.1
OpenGL	-	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U.

PCIe version	no data	4.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	20

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.

Atom 230 0.11

i3-1215U 6.82
+6100%

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.

Atom 230 169

i3-1215U 10828
+6307%

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.

Atom 230 557

i3-1215U 7879
+1315%

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.

Atom 230 851

i3-1215U 19430
+2183%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.11	6.82
Recency	2 April 2008	23 February 2022
Physical cores	1	6
Threads	2	8
Power consumption (TDP)	4 Watt	15 Watt

Atom 230 has 275% lower power consumption.

i3-1215U, on the other hand, has a 6100% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 13 years, and 500% more physical cores and 300% more threads.

The Core i3-1215U is our recommended choice as it beats the Atom 230 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Atom 230 and Core i3-1215U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.