i7-12700K vs Pentium N3540

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Aggregate performance score

Pentium N3540
2014
4 cores / 4 threads, 7 Watt
0.78
Core i7-12700K
2021
12 cores / 20 threads, 125 Watt
22.61
+2799%

Core i7-12700K outperforms Pentium N3540 by a whopping 2799% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking2637235
Place by popularitynot in top-10060
Cost-effectiveness evaluationno data42.22
Market segmentLaptopDesktop processor
SeriesIntel PentiumIntel Core i7
Power efficiency9.4816.49
Architecture codenameBay Trail-M (2013−2014)Alder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)
Release date22 May 2014 (10 years ago)27 October 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$251$409

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads420
Base clock speed2.16 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed2.66 GHz5 GHz
Bus typeno dataDMI 4.0
Bus rateno data8 × 16 GT/s
Multiplierno data36
L1 cache224 KB384 KB
L2 cache2 MB2 MB
L3 cache2 MB L2 Cache1 MB
Chip lithography22 nm10 nm
Die sizeno data215.25 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier-+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K 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 configuration11
SocketFCBGA1170FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)7.5 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI-+
FMA-+
AVX-+
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology-2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring-+
SIPP-+
Smart Connect+no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDB++
Secure Key++
OS Guardno data+
Anti-Theft-no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K are enumerated here.

VT-d-+
VT-x++
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3L-1333DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size8 GB128 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth21.32 GB/s76.805 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 SeriesIntel UHD Graphics 770
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video HD-+
Graphics max frequency896 MHz1.5 GHz
Execution Unitsno data32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported24

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX11.212
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K.

PCIe version2.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes420
USB revision3.0 and 2.0no data
Total number of SATA ports2no data
Number of USB ports5no 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 0.78
i7-12700K 22.61
+2799%

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 1200
i7-12700K 34596
+2783%

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 193
i7-12700K 2556
+1224%

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 550
i7-12700K 13801
+2409%

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Pentium N3540 1364
i7-12700K 9305
+582%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Pentium N3540 4752
i7-12700K 63484
+1236%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Pentium N3540 21.92
i7-12700K 2.66
+724%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Pentium N3540 2
i7-12700K 38
+1920%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Pentium N3540 157
i7-12700K 3325
+2025%

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 N3540 42
i7-12700K 272
+548%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark 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 loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

Pentium N3540 0.5
i7-12700K 3.29
+558%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

Pentium N3540 0.3
i7-12700K 15.7
+5314%

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

Pentium N3540 11
i7-12700K 179
+1510%

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

Pentium N3540 54
i7-12700K 350
+544%

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

Pentium N3540 1210
i7-12700K 10389
+759%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.78 22.61
Recency 22 May 2014 27 October 2021
Physical cores 4 12
Threads 4 20
Chip lithography 22 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 7 Watt 125 Watt

Pentium N3540 has 1685.7% lower power consumption.

i7-12700K, on the other hand, has a 2798.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, 200% more physical cores and 400% more threads, and a 120% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i7-12700K is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3540 in performance tests.

Be aware that Pentium N3540 is a notebook processor while Core i7-12700K is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3540 and Core i7-12700K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Pentium N3540
Pentium N3540
Intel Core i7-12700K
Core i7-12700K

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Community ratings

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