i3-N305 vs i9-12950HX

Place in the ranking	270	1065
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Power efficiency	35.02	39.56
Architecture codename	Alder Lake-HX (2022)	Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date	10 May 2022 (2 years ago)	3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$309

Detailed specifications

Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 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	16 (Hexadeca-Core)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	24	8
Base clock speed	2.3 GHz	0.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	5 GHz	3.8 GHz
L1 cache	80K (per core)	96 KB (per core)
L2 cache	1.25 MB (per core)	2 MB (per module)
L3 cache	30 MB (shared)	6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	Intel 7 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	215 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	105 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 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	FCBGA1964	FCBGA1264
Power consumption (TDP)	55 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305. 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	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	+
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
TSX	+	-
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
SIPP	+	-
GPIO	no data	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	+	no data
Deep Learning Boost	+	-

Security technologies

Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
OS Guard	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4, DDR5	DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size	128 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	2	1
Maximum memory bandwidth	76.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel UHD Graphics for 12th Gen Intel Processors	Intel UHD Graphics
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Graphics max frequency	1.55 GHz	1.25 GHz
Execution Units	32	32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz	4096 x 2160@60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz	4096 x 2160@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12.1	12.1
OpenGL	4.6	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-12950HX and Core i3-N305.

PCIe version	5.0 and 4.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	20	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.

i9-12950HX 20.35
+225%

i3-N305 6.27

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.

i9-12950HX 32323
+225%

i3-N305 9956

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i9-12950HX 3107
+275%

i3-N305 829

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.

i9-12950HX 274
+66.4%

i3-N305 165