Intel Celeron 5305U vs Intel Celeron 5205U vs Intel Core i7-10610U

Intel Celeron 5305U

The Intel Celeron 5305U is a low-power dual-core SoC for laptops, based on the Comet Lake architecture, which was introduced in 2020. Compared to Kaby Lake and Whiskey Lake, there are apparently no differences with Comet Lake apart from the two additional cores in the Top model Core i7-10710U. The processor is still manufactured using the mature 14nm process (14nm++ like Whiskey Lake). The processor cores clock at a fixed 2.3 GHz (no Turbo) and also only offer 2 threads (no HyperThreading). Compared to the more powerful Core i3, i5 and i7 variants, the Celeron does not offer SSE (2) support.

You can find more information about the Comet Lake architecture and the available processors on our Comet Lake topic page.

According to Intel, the integrated graphics card is called Intel UHD Graphics, but is an old Intel UHD Graphics 610. It is clocked in the Celeron 5205U at 300 - 900 MHz and is only sufficient for very demanding games. The CPU also offers an integrated DDR4-2666 / LPDDR4x 2933 / LPDDR3-2133 dual-channel memory controller as well as VP9 and H.265 video decoder and encoder.

Performance

The performance of the Celeron 5305U is in the lowest entry-level class of notebook processors in 2020. Due to the lack of Turbo and only 2 cores, the CPU cannot score points in either single-core or multi-core tasks. The processor is therefore only suitable for undemanding tasks such as surfing with a few tabs and office tasks.

The power consumption and performance can be set from 15 to 12.5 watts by the notebook manufacturer via cTDP-down. However, the processor then only runs at 800 MHz and significantly reduced performance. Even at 15 watts, however, the processor is suitable for thin and light notebooks.

Intel Celeron 5205U

The Intel Celeron 5205U is a power efficient entry-level dual-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in October 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake Celeron 4205U processors, the difference is the higher clock speed (+100 MHz) and support for faster memory. The processor cores are clocked at only 1.9 GHz (no Turbo) and don't support SMT / HyperThreading (so only 2 threads). More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

The integrated graphics adapter is still the same as in the previous generations. It is called only Intel UHD Graphics but is still the same Intel UHD Graphics 610 like in the Pentium 4205U. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel LPDDR3-2133/DDR4-2400 memory controller (compared to DDR4-2666 in the faster and costlier Core i3/i5/i7 processors).

Performance

While we have not tested a single system powered by the 5205U as of August 2023, it's safe to expect the chip to be about half as fast as the Core i3-10110U (Comet Lake, 2 cores, 4 threads, up to 4.1 GHz). Which is nothing to write home about, really, as of mid 2022.

Power consumption

This Celeron has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W. Intel officialy allows laptop manufacturers to reduce that value somewhat, 12.5 W being the lower limit, resulting in lower clock speeds and lower performance. Unlike most Comet Lake family processors, Celeron 5205U is fairly likely to actually stick to that limitation as its cores are not Boost-enabled.

Last but not the least, this CPU is manufactured on an old, as of late 2022, 14 nm Intel process making for subpar energy efficiency.

Intel Core i7-10610U

The Intel Core i7-10610U is a power efficient quad-core SoC for notebooks based on the Comet Lake (CML-U) generation and was announced in August 2019. Compared to the similar Whiskey Lake processors (e.g. Core i7-8665U), the only difference is support for higher memory speeds (DDR4-2666 vs 2400) and two additional cores in the top model (not in this i7-10610U). The processor cores are clocked between 1.8 and 4.9 GHz (unverified). Thanks to Hyper-Threading 8 threads can be used. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Compared to the similar Core i7-10510U, the 10610U supports vPro.

The integrated graphics adapter however is still the same as in the previous generations. It should be still called Intel UHD Graphics 620 and clock from 300 - 1150 MHz in the i7. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a VP9 and H.265 de- and encoder and an integrated dual channel DDR4-2666 / LPDDR4x 2933 / LPDDR3-2133 memory controller.

Performance

The average 10610U in our database is in the same league as the Core i5-1035G1 and also the Core i5-8257U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term power limit of 25 W, the HP ZBook Firefly 14 G7 is among the fastest laptops built around the 10610U that we know of. It can be about 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

This Core i7 has a default TDP of 15 W (also known as the long-term power limit). Laptop manufacturers are free to change that value to anything between 10 W and 25 W, with clock speeds and performance changing accordingly. Perhaps more importantly, short-term power consumption of 10th gen Comet Lake U processors can be as high as 80 W or even 90 W, making passively cooled designs rather unlikely to appear.

Core i7-10610U is manufactured on an old, as of late 2022, 14 nm Intel process for subpar energy efficiency.