Atom C3950 vs Pentium N3540
Primary details
Comparing Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2639 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Intel Pentium | Intel Atom |
| Power efficiency | 9.48 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Bay Trail-M (2013−2014) | Goldmont (2016−2017) |
| Release date | 22 May 2014 (10 years ago) | 15 August 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $251 | $389 |
Detailed specifications
Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 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) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 16 |
| Base clock speed | 2.16 GHz | 1.7 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.66 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Multiplier | no data | 17 |
| L1 cache | 224 KB | 896 KB |
| L2 cache | 2 MB | 16 MB |
| L3 cache | 2 MB L2 Cache | 16 MB |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | 78 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 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 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | FCBGA1170 | FCBGA1310 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 7.5 Watt | 24 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| QuickAssist | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Smart Connect | + | no data |
Security technologies
Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Boot | no data | + |
| Secure Key | + | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
| Anti-Theft | - | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | - | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3L-1333 | DDR4: 2400 |
| Maximum memory size | 8 GB | 256 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21.32 GB/s | 38.397 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series | no data |
| Quick Sync Video | + | - |
| Graphics max frequency | 896 MHz | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | 11.2 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 3 |
| PCI Express lanes | 4 | 16 |
| USB revision | 3.0 and 2.0 | 3 |
| Total number of SATA ports | 2 | 16 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | no data | 16 |
| Number of USB ports | 5 | 8 |
| Integrated LAN | no data | 2x10/2.5/1 GBE + 2x1 GBE |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 22 May 2014 | 15 August 2017 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 16 |
| Threads | 4 | 16 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 7 Watt | 24 Watt |
Pentium N3540 has 242.9% lower power consumption.
Atom C3950, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, 300% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Pentium N3540 is a notebook processor while Atom C3950 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3540 and Atom C3950, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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