Atom N550 vs i7-860

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-860 and Atom N550 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1930	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.15	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Atom
Architecture codename	Lynnfield (2009−2010)	Pineview (2009−2011)
Release date	8 September 2009 (14 years ago)	1 June 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$229	$86

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-860 and Atom N550 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	4 (Quad-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	8	4
Base clock speed	2.8 GHz	1.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.46 GHz	1.5 GHz
Bus rate	2.5 GT/s	666 MHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	112 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1 MB
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	45 nm	45 nm
Die size	296 mm2	87 mm2
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	no data
Number of transistors	774 million	176 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-860 and Atom N550 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	FCLGA1156,LGA1156	FCBGA559
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	8.5 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-860 and Atom N550. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Demand Based Switching	-	-
PAE	36 Bit	no data
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued

Security technologies

Core i7-860 and Atom N550 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-860 and Atom N550 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	-
VT-x	+	-
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-860 and Atom N550. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	16 GB	2 GB
Max memory channels	2	1
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

N/A

Intel GMA 3150

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-860 and Atom N550.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	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.

---

Pros & cons summary

---

Recency	8 September 2009	1 June 2010
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	8	4
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	8 Watt

---

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-860 and Atom N550, 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.

---