Core 2 Duo E4600 vs Pentium N3540

Place in the ranking	2662	2899
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Pentium	no data
Power efficiency	9.59	0.71
Architecture codename	Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)	Allendale (2006−2009)
Release date	22 May 2014 (10 years ago)	October 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$251	no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600 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	4	2
Base clock speed	2.16 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.66 GHz	2.4 GHz
Bus rate	no data	800 MHz
L1 cache	224 KB	64 KB
L2 cache	2 MB	2 MB
L3 cache	2 MB L2 Cache	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	65 nm
Die size	no data	111 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	73 °C
Number of transistors	no data	167 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	no data	0.85V-1.5V

Compatibility

Information on Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600 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	LGA775
Power consumption (TDP)	7.5 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
Smart Connect	+	no data
FSB parity	no data	-

Security technologies

Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600 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 N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600 are enumerated here.

VT-d	-	no data
VT-x	+	-

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3L-1333	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Maximum memory size	8 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.32 GB/s	no data

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 Core 2 Duo E4600 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX

11.2

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	4	no data
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 N3540 0.76
+55.1%

Core 2 Duo E4600 0.49

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 N3540 1201
+53%

Core 2 Duo E4600 785

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 N3540 192

Core 2 Duo E4600 239
+24.5%

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 N3540 549
+43%

Core 2 Duo E4600 384

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.76	0.49
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	22 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	7 Watt	65 Watt

Pentium N3540 has a 55.1% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, a 195.5% more advanced lithography process, and 828.6% lower power consumption.

The Pentium N3540 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo E4600 in performance tests.

Be aware that Pentium N3540 is a notebook processor while Core 2 Duo E4600 is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3540 and Core 2 Duo E4600, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.