Pentium N3540 vs Pentium G6960

Place in the ranking	2546	2661
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	1.17	9.58
Architecture codename	Clarkdale (2010−2011)	Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)
Release date	9 January 2011 (13 years ago)	22 May 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$251

Detailed specifications

Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 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	2 (Dual-core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	2	4
Base clock speed	2.93 GHz	2.16 GHz
Boost clock speed	0.93 GHz	2.66 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	224 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	3072 KB (shared)	2 MB L2 Cache
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm
Die size	81 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	100 °C
Number of transistors	382 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 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	FCBGA1170
Power consumption (TDP)	73 Watt	7.5 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
Idle States	+	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data
Smart Connect	no data	+
FDI	+	no data

Security technologies

Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3L-1333
Maximum memory size	16.38 GB	8 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	17 GB/s	21.32 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD	Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	-	-
Graphics max frequency	no data	896 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX

no data

11.2

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	4
USB revision	no data	3.0 and 2.0
Total number of SATA ports	no data	2
Number of USB ports	no data	5

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.

Pentium G6960 0.90
+18.4%

Pentium N3540 0.76

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.

Pentium G6960 1433
+19.3%

Pentium N3540 1201

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.

Pentium G6960 459
+139%

Pentium N3540 192

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.

Pentium G6960 814
+48.3%

Pentium N3540 549

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.90	0.76
Recency	9 January 2011	22 May 2014
Physical cores	2	4
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	73 Watt	7 Watt

Pentium G6960 has a 18.4% higher aggregate performance score.

Pentium N3540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 942.9% lower power consumption.

The Pentium G6960 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3540 in performance tests.

Note that Pentium G6960 is a desktop processor while Pentium N3540 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium G6960 and Pentium N3540, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.