i7-10700 vs i7-3540M

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-3540M
2013
2 cores / 4 threads, 35 Watt
1.88
Core i7-10700
2020
8 cores / 16 threads, 65 Watt
10.30
+448%

Core i7-10700 outperforms Core i7-3540M by a whopping 448% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking1987759
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data14.53
Market segmentLaptopDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7no data
Power efficiency5.0814.99
Architecture codenameIvy Bridge (2012−2013)Comet Lake (2020)
Release date8 January 2013 (11 years ago)30 April 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$349$340

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 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)8 (Octa-Core)
Threads416
Base clock speed3 GHz2.9 GHz
Boost clock speed3.7 GHz4.8 GHz
Bus rate5 GT/s8 GT/s
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache4 MB (shared)16 MB (shared)
Chip lithography22 nm14 nm
Die size118 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature105 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 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 configuration11
SocketFCBGA1023,FCPGA988FCLGA1200
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® AVXIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFi+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access+no data
SIPP-+
Demand Based Switching-no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+
FDI+no data
Fast Memory Access+no data

Security technologies

Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection++
SGXno dataYes with Intel® ME
OS Guardno data+
Anti-Theft+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4
Maximum memory size32 GB128 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth25.6 GB/s45.8 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 4000Intel UHD Graphics 630
Max video memoryno data64 GB
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Videono data+
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.3 GHz1.2 GHz
InTru 3D++

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
SDVO+no data
CRT+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution supportno data+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2160@30Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data4096 x 2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data4096 x 2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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.

i7-3540M 1.88
i7-10700 10.30
+448%

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.

i7-3540M 2983
i7-10700 16354
+448%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-3540M 566
i7-10700 1628
+188%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-3540M 1161
i7-10700 7142
+515%

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.

i7-3540M 5030
i7-10700 7611
+51.3%

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.

i7-3540M 10811
i7-10700 41156
+281%

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.

i7-3540M 14.86
i7-10700 3.26
+356%

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.

i7-3540M 3
i7-10700 17
+384%

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.

i7-3540M 1.53
i7-10700 2.26
+47.7%

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.

i7-3540M 1.7
i7-10700 10.3
+506%

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.

i7-3540M 2940
i7-10700 6555
+123%

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.  

i7-3540M 20
i7-10700 85
+326%

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.  

i7-3540M 105
i7-10700 236
+124%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.88 10.30
Integrated graphics card 1.18 3.09
Recency 8 January 2013 30 April 2020
Physical cores 2 8
Threads 4 16
Chip lithography 22 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 35 Watt 65 Watt

i7-3540M has 85.7% lower power consumption.

i7-10700, on the other hand, has a 447.9% higher aggregate performance score, 161.9% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 7 years, 300% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i7-10700 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3540M in performance tests.

Be aware that Core i7-3540M is a notebook processor while Core i7-10700 is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3540M and Core i7-10700, 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 Core i7-3540M
Core i7-3540M
Intel Core i7-10700
Core i7-10700

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.


4 172 votes

Rate Core i7-3540M on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.9 1231 vote

Rate Core i7-10700 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i7-3540M or Core i7-10700, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.