i3-N300 vs i5-10500

Place in the ranking	895	1156
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Power efficiency	12.29	73.28
Architecture codename	Comet Lake (2020)	Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date	30 April 2020 (4 years ago)	3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$309

Detailed specifications

Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	12	8
Base clock speed	3.1 GHz	0.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	4.5 GHz	3.8 GHz
Bus rate	8 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	96 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256K (per core)	2 MB (per module)
L3 cache	12 MB (shared)	6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	Intel 7 nm
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	72 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 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	1
Socket	FCLGA1200	FCBGA1264
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	7 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
SIPP	+	-
GPIO	no data	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data

Security technologies

Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2666	DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800, LPDDR5-4800
Maximum memory size	128 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	2	1
Maximum memory bandwidth	41.6 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel UHD Graphics 630	Intel UHD Graphics
Max video memory	64 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	+	no data
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.15 GHz	1.25 GHz
Execution Units	no data	32
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	+	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096 x 2160@30Hz	4096 x 2160@60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	4096 x 2304@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	4096 x 2304@60Hz	4096 x 2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	12.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300.

PCIe version	3.0	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.

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.

i5-10500 8.44
+55.7%

i3-N300 5.42

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.

i5-10500 13409
+55.6%

i3-N300 8617

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	8.44	5.42
Integrated graphics card	3.09	5.58
Recency	30 April 2020	3 January 2023
Physical cores	6	8
Threads	12	8
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	7 Watt

i5-10500 has a 55.7% higher aggregate performance score, and 50% more threads.

i3-N300, on the other hand, has 80.6% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 2 years, 33.3% more physical cores, and 828.6% lower power consumption.

The Core i5-10500 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-N300 in performance tests.

Note that Core i5-10500 is a desktop processor while Core i3-N300 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-10500 and Core i3-N300, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.