Intel Core i5-5350U vs Intel Pentium Silver N5000

Intel Core i5-5350U

The Intel Core i5-5350U is an ULV (ultra low voltage) dual-core processor based on the Broadwell architecture, which has been launched in January 2015. In addition to two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading clocked at 1.8 - 2.9 GHz (2 Cores: 2.7 GHz), the chip also integrates an HD Graphics 6000 GPU and a dual-channel LPDDR3-1866/DDR3L-1600 memory controller. The Core i5 is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to the Core i5-5300U, the i5-5350U features a lower CPU base clock, but integrates a somewhat faster GPU.

Architecture

Broadwell represents the "Tick" in Intel's Tick-Tock model, which means a shrink of its predecessor Haswell. The new 14 nm manufacturing process with three-dimensional FinFET transistors allows not only improvements in energy efficiency, but also a significantly smaller die size fit for more compact packages and devices.

Further advantages result from the revised microarchitecture of Broadwell. Due to its improved branch prediction, bigger buffer sizes (1500 instead of 1000 entries in the L2 TLB) and other tweaks, the performance per clock has been increased by more than 5 percent over its predecessor. There are also some new instruction set extensions designed for cryptographic applications.

Performance

Thanks to its improved architecture, the Core i5-5350U ends up 5 - 15 percent faster than the slightly lower clocked Core i5-4350U and matches the Core i7-4510U (both Haswell). Thus, the CPU has sufficient power for office and multimedia purposes as well as more demanding applications and multitasking.

Graphics

The integrated HD Graphics 6000 offers 48 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 300 - 1000 MHz. Similar to the CPU core, the GPU architecture (Intel Gen 8) has been thoroughly revised for improved performance-per-clock. In addition, the GPU benefits from faster memory speeds up to LPDDR3-1866 (Haswell: DDR3-1600). We expect the HD Graphics 6000 to be significantly faster than the former HD Graphics 5000 (40 EUs), part of the Haswell generation. Nevertheless, demanding games as of 2015 should be playable only in low or medium settings.

Broadwell is the first Intel chip to fully support DirectX 11.2 as well as OpenCL 1.3/2.0 and OpenGL 4.3. Video will output natively via DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a. However, the new HDMI 2.0 standard is not officially supported.

Power Consumption

The i5-5350U is rated at a TDP of 15 W (9.5 W cTDP Down) including the graphics card, memory controller, VRMs and the integrated chipset. Therefore, the CPU is suited even for small ultrabooks 11-inches and greater.

Intel Pentium Silver N5000

The Intel Pentium Silver N5000 is a quad-core SoC primarily for inexpensive notebooks and was announced late 2017. It runs at 1.1-2.7 GHz (Single Core Burst, Multi Core Burst max. 2.6 GHz) and is based on the Gemini Lake platform. Similar to the Apollo Lake predecessor, the chip is manufactured in a 14 nm process with FinFETs but offers slightly improved processor cores, double the amount of L2 cache, a smaller package, a new generation of monitor outputs (Gen 10) and a partly integrated WiFi chip. Besides four CPU cores, the chip also includes a DirectX 12 capable GPU as well as a DDR4/LPDDR4 memory controller (dual-channel, up to 2400 MHz). The SoC is not replaceable as it is directly soldered to the mainboard.

Architecture

The processor architecture was slightly reworked and is now called Goldmont Plus. It features an increased level 2 cache (to 4 MB). That means the per-clock-performance should be a bit better, but not near the Core CPUs like Kaby Lake Y.

Performance

The average N5000 in our database is in the same league as the AMD 3050e and the Pentium 4415U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a really poor result, as of Q3 2023.

The Yoga 330-11IGM is among the fastest laptops featuring the N5000 that we know of. It can be more than 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system built around the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

GPU Performance

The UHD Graphics 605 (Gemini Lake) is based on Intel's Gen9 architecture, which supports DirectX 12 and is also used for the Kaby Lake / Skylake / Apollo Lake graphics adapters (like HD Graphics 520). Equipped with 18 EUs and a clock of up to 750 MHz, the performance should be roughly on par with the older HD Graphics 5300 and HD Graphics 505 (Apollo Lake).

The chip also includes an advanced video engine with hardware support for the playback of VP9 and H.265 material (8-bit color-depth).

Power Consumption

Similar to the predecessor, Intel specifies the TDP with 6 Watts (SDP 4.8 Watts – Scenario Design Power). The chip can therefore be cooled passively in theory, but SKUs with fans are possible as well.