Pentium J2900 vs i3-6100U

Place in the ranking	2080	2633
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i3	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	10.47	7.48
Architecture codename	Skylake (2015−2016)	Bay Trail-D (2013)
Release date	1 September 2015 (9 years ago)	1 November 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$281	$94

Detailed specifications

Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	2.3 GHz	2.41 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.3 GHz	2.66 GHz
Bus type	OPI	no data
Bus rate	4 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	23	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	224 KB
L2 cache	512 KB	2 MB
L3 cache	3 MB	2 MB L2 Cache
Chip lithography	14 nm	22 nm
Die size	98.57 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	1750 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 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	FCBGA1356	FCBGA1170
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	10 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	no data
AES-NI	+	-
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Smart Response	+	no data
PAE	no data	36 Bit
FDI	no data	-
RST	no data	-

Security technologies

Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
MPX	+	-
Identity Protection	+	-
SGX	Yes with Intel® ME	no data
OS Guard	+	no data
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 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 i3-6100U and Pentium J2900. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3, DDR4	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	8 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	34.134 GB/s	21.3 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 520	Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series
Max video memory	32 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	+	no data
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1 GHz	896 MHz
InTru 3D	+	-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 integrated GPUs.

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

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	+	no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096x2304@24Hz	no data
Max resolution over eDP	4096x2304@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	4096x2304@60Hz	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	11.2
OpenGL	4.5	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	12	4
USB revision	no data	3.0 and 2.0
Total number of SATA ports	no data	2
Number of USB ports	no data	5

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.

i3-6100U 1.66
+110%

Pentium J2900 0.79

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.

i3-6100U 2635
+111%

Pentium J2900 1250

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.66	0.79
Integrated graphics card	2.16	0.77
Recency	1 September 2015	1 November 2013
Physical cores	2	4
Chip lithography	14 nm	22 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	10 Watt

i3-6100U has a 110.1% higher aggregate performance score, 180.5% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 1 year, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.

Pentium J2900, on the other hand, has 100% more physical cores, and 50% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-6100U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium J2900 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-6100U and Pentium J2900, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.