Celeron N4120 vs Atom N280
Aggregate performance score
Celeron N4120 outperforms Atom N280 by a whopping 1470% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 3383 | 2118 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Atom | Intel Gemini Lake |
| Power efficiency | 3.78 | 24.75 |
| Architecture codename | DiamondVille (2008−2009) | Gemini Lake Refresh (2019) |
| Release date | 1 February 2009 (15 years ago) | 4 November 2019 (5 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 1.66 GHz | 1.1 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 0.07 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Bus type | FSB | no data |
| Bus rate | 666.66 MT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | 10 | no data |
| L1 cache | 56 KB | no data |
| L2 cache | 512 KB | 4 MB |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 4 MB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 25.9638 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 90 °C | 105 °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 N280 and Celeron N4120 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 | FCBGA1090 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 2.5 Watt | 6 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3 | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Smart Response | no data | - |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| GPIO | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
Security technologies
Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | no data |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| MPX | - | + |
| Identity Protection | - | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® ME |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
| Anti-Theft | no data | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | - | + |
| VT-x | - | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | - | Intel UHD Graphics 600 |
| Max video memory | - | 8 GB |
| Quick Sync Video | - | + |
| Graphics max frequency | - | 700 MHz |
| Execution Units | - | 12 |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | - | 3 |
| eDP | - | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| MIPI-DSI | - | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | - | + |
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | - | 4096x2160@30Hz |
| Max resolution over eDP | - | 4096x2160@60Hz |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | - | 4096x2160@60Hz |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | - | 12 |
| OpenGL | - | 4.4 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Atom N280 and Celeron N4120.
| PCIe version | no data | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 6 |
| USB revision | no data | 2.0/3.0 |
| Total number of SATA ports | no data | 2 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | no data | 2 |
| Number of USB ports | no data | 8 |
| Integrated LAN | no data | - |
| UART | 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.10 | 1.57 |
| Recency | 1 February 2009 | 4 November 2019 |
| Physical cores | 1 | 4 |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 2 Watt | 6 Watt |
Atom N280 has 200% lower power consumption.
Celeron N4120, on the other hand, has a 1470% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, 300% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 221.4% more advanced lithography process.
The Celeron N4120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Atom N280 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Atom N280 and Celeron N4120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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