i5-9400 vs Pentium N3540
Aggregate performance score
Core i5-9400 outperforms Pentium N3540 by a whopping 676% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2662 | 1114 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 8.51 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | Intel Pentium | Intel Core i5 |
| Power efficiency | 9.59 | 8.59 |
| Architecture codename | Bay Trail-M (2013−2014) | Coffee Lake (2017−2019) |
| Release date | 22 May 2014 (10 years ago) | 19 October 2018 (6 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $251 | $182 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 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) | 6 (Hexa-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 6 |
| Base clock speed | 2.16 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.66 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 3.0 |
| Bus rate | no data | 4 × 8 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 29 |
| L1 cache | 224 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 2 MB | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 2 MB L2 Cache | 9 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | no data | 149 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | 100 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 72 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 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 | FCLGA1151 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 7.5 Watt | 65 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400. 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 | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Smart Connect | + | no data |
Security technologies
Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | + | + |
| MPX | - | + |
| Identity Protection | - | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® ME |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
| Anti-Theft | - | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 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 Core i5-9400. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3L-1333 | DDR4-2666 |
| Maximum memory size | 8 GB | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21.32 GB/s | 42.671 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card Compare | Intel HD Graphics for Intel Atom Processor Z3700 Series | Intel UHD Graphics 630 |
| Max video memory | no data | 64 GB |
| Quick Sync Video | + | + |
| Clear Video | no data | + |
| Clear Video HD | - | + |
| Graphics max frequency | 896 MHz | 1.05 GHz |
| InTru 3D | - | + |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | 3 |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | no data | + |
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | no data | 4096 x 2304@24Hz |
| Max resolution over eDP | no data | 4096 x 2304@60Hz |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | no data | 4096 x 2304@60Hz |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | 11.2 | 12 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.5 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 4 | 16 |
| 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.
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.76 | 5.90 |
| Integrated graphics card | 0.77 | 3.10 |
| Recency | 22 May 2014 | 19 October 2018 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 6 |
| Threads | 4 | 6 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 7 Watt | 65 Watt |
Pentium N3540 has 828.6% lower power consumption.
i5-9400, on the other hand, has a 676.3% higher aggregate performance score, 302.6% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 4 years, 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads, and a 57.1% more advanced lithography process.
The Core i5-9400 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3540 in performance tests.
Be aware that Pentium N3540 is a notebook processor while Core i5-9400 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3540 and Core i5-9400, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
