Microsoft SQ1 vs Pentium N3540

Place in the ranking	2637	1484
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Pentium	Qualcomm Snapdragon
Power efficiency	9.48	0.11
Architecture codename	Bay Trail-M (2013−2014)	Cortex-A76 / A55 (Kryo 495) (2019)
Release date	22 May 2014 (10 years ago)	2 October 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$251	no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 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)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	4	8
Base clock speed	2.16 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	2.66 GHz	3 GHz
L1 cache	224 KB	no data
L2 cache	2 MB	no data
L3 cache	2 MB L2 Cache	2 MB
Chip lithography	22 nm	7 nm
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 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	no data
Socket	FCBGA1170	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	7.5 Watt	3000 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Smart Connect	+	no data

Security technologies

Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3L-1333	no data
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	Qualcomm Adreno 685
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Graphics max frequency	896 MHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX

11.2

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1.

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 0.78

Microsoft SQ1 3.77
+383%

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

Microsoft SQ1 5763
+380%

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
+154%

Microsoft SQ1 537

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
+11.1%

Microsoft SQ1 4276

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

Microsoft SQ1 14.2
+54.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.78	3.77
Recency	22 May 2014	2 October 2019
Physical cores	4	8
Threads	4	8
Chip lithography	22 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	7 Watt	3000 Watt

Pentium N3540 has 42757.1% lower power consumption.

Microsoft SQ1, on the other hand, has a 383.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 214.3% more advanced lithography process.

The Microsoft SQ1 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3540 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium N3540 and Microsoft SQ1, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.