Intel Processor N100 vs Intel Core i3-N300 vs Intel Processor N97

Intel Processor N100

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The Intel Processor N100 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with 1 to 3.4 GHz. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache.

Performance

The average N100 in our database delivers unimpressive multi-thread benchmark scores that are most similar to those of the Core i3-1115G4. The chip is fast enough for many day-to-day tasks, but not much more than that; the other thing to keep in mind is that of the two N100-toting systems tested by us as of October 2023, both have rather high CPU power limits. The chip will be noticeably slower if limited to just six or seven Watts.

Features

The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers only 24 of the 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at only 450 - 750 MHz. Due to the single channel memory, low clock speeds, and low shader count, the gaming performance of the iGPU is very limited.

Power consumption

The N100 has a base power consumption of only 6 W and is therefore suited for fanless cooling. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).

Intel Core i3-N300

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The Intel Core i3-N305 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with up to 3.8 GHz (single core, 3 GHz all core Turbo). The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache. 

Performance

The performance depends on the cooling and TDP settings and should be somewhere similar to the old  Alder Lake Pentium 8500 (1 performance core, 4 efficiency cores, max. 4.4 GHz and 8 MB L3-cache). The multi-threaded performance should be quite good with the 8 cores but will suffer due to the low TDP. Single thread performance will suffer due to the missing P-cores and relatively low boost clock speeds.

Features

The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offersall 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.25 GHz. In addition to the single channel memory, the gaming performance is very limited of the iGPU.

Power consumption

The i3 has a base power consumption of 7 W and is therefore even suited for fanless cooling. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).

Intel Processor N97

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The Intel Processor N97 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 4 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with up to 3.7 GHz. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache. 

Performance

The performance should be between the Intel Processor N100 and Intel Processor N200 and clearly below the Core i3-N300 and N305 due to the reduced core count. 

Features

The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers only 24 of the 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at 1200 MHz. Due to the single channel memory, low clock speeds, and low shader count, the gaming performance of the iGPU is very limited.

Power consumption

The N97 has a base power consumption of 12 W and therefore double the amount of the N100. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).

Model	Intel Processor N100	Intel Core i3-N300	Intel Processor N97
Codename	Alder Lake-N	Alder Lake-N	Alder Lake-N
Series	Intel Alder Lake-N	Intel Alder Lake-N	Intel Alder Lake-N
Series: Alder Lake-N Alder Lake-N	Intel Core i3-N305 1.8 - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core i3-N300 - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N200 1 - 3.7 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N97 - 3.6 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N95 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N100 « 1 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N50 1 - 3.4 GHz 2 / 2  6 MB L3	Intel Core i3-N305 1.8 - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core i3-N300 « - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N200 1 - 3.7 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N97 - 3.6 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N95 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N100 1 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N50 1 - 3.4 GHz 2 / 2  6 MB L3	Intel Core i3-N305 1.8 - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Core i3-N300 - 3.8 GHz 8 / 8  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N200 1 - 3.7 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N97 « - 3.6 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N95 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N100 1 - 3.4 GHz 4 / 4  6 MB L3 Intel Processor N50 1 - 3.4 GHz 2 / 2  6 MB L3
Clock	1000 - 3400 MHz	<=3800 MHz	<=3600 MHz
L3 Cache	6 MB	6 MB	6 MB
Cores / Threads	4 / 4 4 x 3.4 GHz Intel Crestmont E-Core	8 / 8 8 x 3.8 GHz Intel Crestmont E-Core	4 / 4 4 x 3.6 GHz Intel Crestmont E-Core
TDP	6 Watt	7 Watt	12 Watt
Technology	10 nm	10 nm	10 nm
max. Temp.	105 °C	105 °C	105 °C
Socket	BGA1264
Features	DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800/LPDDR5-4800 RAM (sin. chan.), PCIe 3, GNA, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, VMX, SMEP, SMAP, EIST, TM1, TM2, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA
iGPU	Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 750 MHz)	Intel UHD Graphics Xe 750 32EUs (Rocket Lake) ( - 1250 MHz)	Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 1200 MHz)
Architecture	x86	x86	x86
	$128 U.S.
Announced
Manufacturer	ark.intel.com	ark.intel.com	ark.intel.com

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