i3-N300 vs i7-6600U

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6600U
2015
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
2.16
Core i3-N300
2023
8 cores / 8 threads, 7 Watt
5.35
+148%

Core i3-N300 outperforms Core i7-6600U by a whopping 148% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking18621178
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7no data
Power efficiency13.6272.28
Architecture codenameSkylake (2015−2016)Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date1 September 2015 (9 years ago)3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$393$309

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6600U 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 cores2 (Dual-core)8 (Octa-Core)
Threads48
Base clock speed2.6 GHz0.1 GHz
Boost clock speed3.4 GHz3.7 GHz
Bus typeOPIno data
Bus rate4 GT/sno data
Multiplier26no data
L1 cache128 KB96 KB (per core)
L2 cache512 KB2 MB (per module)
L3 cache4 MB6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm10 nm
Die size98.57 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature100 °C105 °C
Number of transistors1750 Millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6600U 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCBGA1356Intel BGA 1264
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt7 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2no data
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFi+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
TSX+-
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access+no data
SIPP+-
Smart Response+no data

Security technologies

Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB+no data
Secure Key+no data
MPX+-
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 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 i7-6600U and Core i3-N300. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR4, DDR5 4800 MHz Single-channel
Maximum memory size32 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 520Intel UHD Graphics Xe 750 32EUs (Rocket Lake) ( - 1250 MHz)
Max video memory32 GBno data
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.05 GHzno data
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3no data
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over VGAN/Ano data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.5no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes129

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.

i7-6600U 2.16
i3-N300 5.35
+148%

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.

i7-6600U 3426
i3-N300 8497
+148%

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.

i7-6600U 5298
+83.7%
i3-N300 2884

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.

i7-6600U 11320
i3-N300 12014
+6.1%

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.

i7-6600U 4334
+1.7%
i3-N300 4261

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.

i7-6600U 14.73
+18.7%
i3-N300 17.49

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.

i7-6600U 4
i3-N300 5
+48.6%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-6600U 321
i3-N300 416
+29.6%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made 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 (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-6600U 141
+65.9%
i3-N300 85

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.

i7-6600U 1.61
+57.8%
i3-N300 1.02

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.

i7-6600U 1.9
i3-N300 2.6
+36.8%

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.

i7-6600U 2450
+27.9%
i3-N300 1915

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.  

i7-6600U 20
i3-N300 29
+44.3%

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.  

i7-6600U 109
+2.3%
i3-N300 107

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 2.16 5.35
Integrated graphics card 2.16 3.29
Recency 1 September 2015 3 January 2023
Physical cores 2 8
Threads 4 8
Chip lithography 14 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 7 Watt

i3-N300 has a 147.7% higher aggregate performance score, 52.3% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 7 years, 300% more physical cores and 100% more threads, a 40% more advanced lithography process, and 114.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-N300 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-6600U in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6600U and Core i3-N300, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6600U
Core i7-6600U
Intel Core i3-N300
Core i3-N300

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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