Intel Core 3 N355 vs Intel Processor N250

Intel Core 3 N355

The Intel Core 3 N355 (sometimes referred to as the Intel Processor N355) is a mobile processor of the Twin Lake family which is mostly identical to Alder Lake-N, an architecture that will turn 4 in H2 2025. The chip is meant for entry-level laptops, tablets and mini PCs; it offers 8 Efficient (Gracemont) cores that run at up to 3.9 GHz but no Performance cores.

The E-cores do not support Hyper-Threading. No extra threads here.

Performance

The performance of the Core 3 CPU depends heavily on the cooling solution and TDP settings of the system. Provided both are good enough, it will deliver multi-thread benchmark cores on par with older quad-core CPUs like the Ryzen 3 5300U and Core i7-1165G7, which should be enough to run most day-to-day tasks in 2025. Its single-core performance is much less impressive due to the lack of P-cores.

The Alder Lake-N Core i3-N305 (8 cores, up to 3.8 GHz) that was introduced in early 2023 should be just a few percentage points slower than the N355.

Graphics

The SoC comes equipped with a Xe-architecture graphics unit with 32 EUs (Execution Units) running at up to 1.35 GHz. The iGPU can drive up to 3 UHD 2160p monitors and hardware-decodes AV1 among other popular video codecs. Due to the low number of Xe cores and the single-channel RAM restriction, gaming performance is only good enough for older games and fairly low resolutions. GTA V is perfectly playable at 768p on Medium.

Architecture and Features

The integrated memory controller supports single-channel DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800 and LPDDR5-4800 RAM. PCIe NVMe SSD speeds are capped at 3.9 GB/s, corresponding to the PCIe 3 spec. There is no Thunderbolt / USB 4 support here, however, the latest Intel CNVi Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking modules are supported.

Its L3 cache is relatively small at 6 MB, and it has no proper NPU (and thus no Copilot+ branding).

Power consumption

The Intel Core 3 N355 is supposed to consume 15 watts when under longer loads. This is the Intel-recommended PL1 for the chip. While no data on PL2 has been provided, we do know that Asus has given the Core 3 a power limit of 35 watts (PL2) in the NUC 14 Essential.

The SoC is manufactured using the second-generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 meaning power efficiency isn't great here compared to the latest 3 nm silicon from the likes of Apple.

Intel Processor N250

The Intel Processor N250 is a mobile processor of the Twin Lake family which is mostly identical to Alder Lake-N, an architecture that will turn 4 in H2 2025. The chip is meant for entry-level laptops, tablets and mini PCs with no fans; it offers 4 Efficient (Gracemont) cores that run at up to 3.8 GHz, but no Performance cores. Compared to the N350, the N250 has a half as many CPU cores, resulting in a very significant (over 30%) performance loss. The iGPU is slightly slower here, too.

Gracemont E-cores do not support Hyper-Threading. No extra threads here.

Performance

Its multi-thread performance should be a few percentage points higher than older dual-core CPUs like the Core i3-10110U. Exact figures depend on the cooling solution and TDP settings of the system. Either way, this is a pretty slow chip that is only just fast enough for basic tasks.

Graphics

The SoC comes equipped with a Xe-architecture graphics unit with 32 EUs (Execution Units) running at up to 1.25 GHz. The iGPU can drive up to 3 UHD 2160p monitors and hardware-decodes AV1 among other popular video codecs. Due to the low number of Xe cores and the single-channel RAM restriction, gaming performance is only good enough for older games and fairly low resolutions. GTA V should be playable at 720p on Medium.

Architecture and Features

The integrated memory controller supports single-channel DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800 and LPDDR5-4800 RAM. PCIe NVMe SSD speeds are capped at 3.9 GB/s, corresponding to the PCIe 3 spec. There is no Thunderbolt / USB 4 support here, however, the latest Intel CNVi Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking modules are supported.

Its L3 cache is relatively small at 6 MB, and it has no proper NPU (and thus no Copilot+ branding).

Power consumption

The N250 is supposed to consume 6 watts when under longer loads. This is the Intel-recommended PL1 for the chip. No data on PL2 has been provided but values higher than 15 W are unlikely.

The SoC is manufactured using the second-generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 meaning power efficiency isn't great here compared to the latest 3 nm silicon from the likes of Apple.