Apple M3 Max 14-Core vs Intel Pentium Gold 6405U
Apple M3 Max 14-Core
► remove from comparison![Apple Apple M3 Max 14-Core](fileadmin/_processed_/d/9/csm_Apple-M3-Max-chip-series-unified-memory-architecture_c0044e24af.jpg)
The Apple M3 Max 14 core CPU is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced towards the end of 2023. It integrates a new 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a more powerful 16-core variant with 40 GPU cores.
Thanks to the higher clock rates and architectural improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 Max in benchmarks and can keep up with the fastest mobile CPUs.
The M3 also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the cheaper model, 30 of the chip's 40 cores are used and support up to 5 displays simultaneously (internal and 4 external).
GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 36 and 96 GB variants and offers 400 GB/s maximum bandwidth (512 bit bus).
The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded. Like its predecessor, the Max chip offers two video engines and can therefore encode and decode two streams simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).
The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 92 billion transistors (+37% vs. Apple M2 Max).
Intel Pentium Gold 6405U
► remove from comparison![Intel Pentium Gold 6405U](fileadmin/_processed_/9/1/csm_pentium_gold_066c35a3b4.jpg)
The Intel Pentium Gold 6405U 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 Pentium 5405U processors, the difference is the higher clock speed (+100 MHz) and support for faster memory. The processor cores are clocked at 2.4 GHz (no Turbo). Thanks to HyperThreading 4 threads can be used. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.
Due to the 100 MHz higher clock speed, the Pentium Gold 6405U should be slightly faster than the old Pentium 5405U and therefore in the entry level of mobile processors. The missing Turbo and only two cores are definitely a downside and therefore the CPU is best used for simple tasks like browsing and office programs. Compared to the faster Core i3, i5 and i7 Comet Lake models, the Pentium does not support SSE (2).
The integrated graphics card 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 5405U. 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 Core i3).
The chip is still produced in the 14nm++ process as Whiskey Lake. The TDP (PL1) is specified at 15 Watts but can be lowered to 12.5 Watt although the CPU then only runs at 800 MHz.
Model | Apple M3 Max 14-Core | Intel Pentium Gold 6405U | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series | Apple Apple M3 | Intel Comet Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Comet Lake Comet Lake-U |
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Clock | 2748 - 4056 MHz | 2400 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cores / Threads | 14 / 14 10 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | 2 / 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP | 78 Watt | 15 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transistors | 92000 Million | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technology | 3 nm | 14 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | ARMv8 Instruction Set | Dual-Channel DDR4 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX2, Quick Sync, Virtualization, AES-NI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
iGPU | Apple M3 Max 30-Core GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 610 (300 - 900 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | ARM | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | www.apple.com | ark.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Comet Lake-U | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L1 Cache | 256 KB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L2 Cache | 1 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
L3 Cache | 2 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
max. Temp. | 100 °C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Socket | FCBGA1528 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
$161 U.S. |