i7-1255U vs Pentium N3520

Place in the ranking	2685	885
Place by popularity	not in top-100	37
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Pentium	Intel Alder Lake-M
Power efficiency	9.09	53.88
Architecture codename	Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)	Alder Lake-U (2022)
Release date	1 December 2013 (10 years ago)	23 February 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$161	no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U 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)	10 (Deca-Core)
Threads	4	12
Base clock speed	2.17 GHz	1.7 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.42 GHz	4.7 GHz
L1 cache	224 KB	80K (per core)
L2 cache	2 MB	1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache	2 MB	12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	Intel 7 nm
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U 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	FCBGA1170	FCBGA1744
Power consumption (TDP)	7.5 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Smart Connect	+	no data
RST	-	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3L-1333	DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size	8 GB	64 GB
Max memory channels	2	2

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series	Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics eligible
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Graphics max frequency	854 MHz	1.25 GHz
Execution Units	no data	96

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12.1
OpenGL	no data	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U.

PCIe version	2.0	4.0
PCI Express lanes	4	20
USB revision	3.0 and 2.0	no data
Total number of SATA ports	2	no data
Number of USB ports	5	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.

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 N3520 0.72

i7-1255U 8.54
+1086%

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 N3520 1146

i7-1255U 13562
+1083%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Pentium N3520 144

i7-1255U 1389
+864%

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.

Pentium N3520 38

i7-1255U 238
+526%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.72	8.54
Recency	1 December 2013	23 February 2022
Physical cores	4	10
Threads	4	12
Power consumption (TDP)	7 Watt	15 Watt

Pentium N3520 has 114.3% lower power consumption.

i7-1255U, on the other hand, has a 1086.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, and 150% more physical cores and 200% more threads.

The Core i7-1255U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3520 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3520 and Core i7-1255U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.