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Apple M3 vs Intel Core 2 Duo P8400

Apple M3

► remove from comparison Apple M3

The Apple M3 is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced in late 2023. It integrates a new 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores running at up to 2.75 GHz. Apple claims that the CPU is up to 20% faster than in the old Apple M2 (3.5 GHz)

Due to the higher clock speeds and architecture improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 in benchmarks (see e.g. Geekbench below) and can keep up with the fastest CPUs in short single-core tests (like the Raptor Lake i9-13950HX).

The M3 also integrates a new graphics adapter with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration. According to Apple, it is 20% faster than the GPU in the M2. The chip integrates again 10 GPU cores, but the cheaper variant only offers 8 cores (e.g. in the entry iMac). Furthermore, the GPU only supports 2 displays (an additional 6K60 display to the internal one).

Both GPU and CPU can access the unified memory on the package together. It is still available in 8, 16 and 24 GB variants and offers the same 100 GB/s maximum bandwidth (unlike the Pro models that feature a reduced memory bandwidth). 

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (versus 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded.

Unfortunately, the integrated wireless network module only supports Wi-Fi 6E (no Wi-Fi 7) and due to the support of only a single external monitor, the chip also has to make do with no Thunderbolt 4 (Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 support only for up to 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured on the current 3nm TSMC process (N3B most likely) and contains 25 billion transistors (+25% vs. Apple M2). The 3nm process should also contribute to the excellent efficiency of the chip. Under load, the M3 CPU consumes approximately 20 Watt.

Intel Core 2 Duo P8400

► remove from comparison Intel P8400

The Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 is a dual core processor for laptops. It features 2.26 GHz and a shared level 2 cache of 3 MB. Due to the smaller cache (Core 2 Duo T-Models got usually 6 MB at this clock rate), the TDP is only 25 Watt (instead of the 35 Watt of the T-models).

The performance of the P8400 is on par with the fast Turion II Ultra with about 2.4 to 2.6 GHz. Modern demanding games like Supreme Commander may be limited by the CPU performance. High end gamers should choose a higher clocked Core 2 Duo (or Core i5 / i7).

The P8400 uses a Penryn (Montevina Update) core that features 2 integer units, 1 floating point unit, 1 load unit, and 1 store unit in a 14-stages long pipeline. Due to the Wide Dynamic Execution Technology, the core is able to simultaneously execute up to four instructions.

The integrated Enhanced Speedstep is able to downclock the core dynamically as low as 800 MHz to save power (in idle mode).

The Core 2 Duo P8400 can be used in a Socket P socket with 479 pins: Socket P / Micro Flip-Chip Pin Grid Array (Micro-FCPGA) requires 479-pin surface mount Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket (mPGA479M socket) or Micro Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array (Micro-FCBGA) for surface mount (479-ball)

ModelApple M3Intel Core 2 Duo P8400
SeriesApple Apple M3Intel Core 2 Duo
Series: Core 2 Duo Penryn
Apple M3 Max 16-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz16 / 16 cores
Apple M3 Max 14-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz14 / 14 cores
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz12 / 12 cores
Apple M3 Pro 11-Core compare2.75 - 4.06 GHz11 / 11 cores
Apple M3 « 2.75 - 4.06 GHz8 / 8 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9900 compare3.06 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9800 compare2.92 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P9700 compare2.8 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 compare2.8 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 compare2.66 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 compare2.66 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 compare2.6 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 compare2.53 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 compare2.53 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 compare2.53 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 compare2.66 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 compare2.5 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 compare2.53 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 compare2.4 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 compare2.4 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 compare2.4 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 compare2.26 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 « 2.26 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P7570 compare2.26 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P7550 compare2.26 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6770 compare2.3 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 compare2.13 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 compare2.13 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6670 compare2.2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 compare2.2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 compare2.1 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P7370 compare2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 compare2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 compare2.1 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 compare2.1 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 compare1.86 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9380 compare1.8 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 compare2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9300 compare1.6 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600 compare1.6 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 compare1.4 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 compare1.3 GHz2 / 2 cores
Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 compare1.2 GHz2 / 2 cores
Clock2748 - 4056 MHz2260 MHz
L2 Cache4 MB3 MB
Cores / Threads8 / 8
4 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core
4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core
2 / 2
Transistors25000 Million410 Million
3 nm45 nm, 1.05-1.15
FeaturesARMv8 Instruction SetSSE4.1, Virtualization Technology, Execute Disable Bit, Enhanced Speedstep, Ehnaced Halt State (C1E), 64 Bit, Trusted Execution Technology
iGPUApple M3 10-Core GPU
ArchitectureARMx86
Announced
Manufacturerwww.apple.comark.intel.com
CodenamePenryn
FSB1066
L1 Cache128 KB
TDP25 Watt
Die Size107 mm2
max. Temp.105 °C
SocketSocket P
$209 U.S.

Benchmarks

Cinebench 2024 - Cinebench 2024 CPU Single Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 140     avg: 141     median: 141 (98%)     max: 142 Points
Cinebench 2024 - Cinebench 2024 CPU Multi Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 576     avg: 622     median: 599.5 (11%)     max: 712 Points
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 10074     avg: 10275     median: 10298 (10%)     max: 10454 Points
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Single Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 1900     avg: 1901     median: 1900 (81%)     max: 1904 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core)
100%
1 M3 +
504 Points (56%)
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core)
100%
1 M3 +
2818 Points (7%)
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
100%
1 M3 +
1499 Points (9%)
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
100%
1 M3 +
271 Points (82%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (32bit)
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 2418     avg: 2527     median: 2497 (15%)     max: 2882 Points
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 4507     avg: 4701     median: 4630 (3%)     max: 5314 Points
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 32m *
100%
1 P8400 +
34.2 s (7%)
Blender - Blender 3.3 Classroom CPU *
100%
1 M3 +
min: 491     avg: 590     median: 517 (7%)     max: 761 Seconds
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
100%
1 M3 +
min: 474     avg: 509     median: 494 (3%)     max: 558 Seconds
3DMark 06 - CPU - 3DMark 06 - CPU
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 1922     avg: 2030     median: 2036 (4%)     max: 2084 Points
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M *
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 21.75     avg: 22.1     median: 22 (5%)     max: 22.71 s
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M *
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 50.7     avg: 51.5     median: 51.8 (2%)     max: 52.2 s
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 32M *
100%
1 P8400 +
1212 s (5%)
SiSoft Sandra Dhrystone (MIPS) - SiSoft Sandra Dhrystone (MIPS)
100%
1 P8400 +
21204 MIPS (10%)
SiSoft Sandra Whetstone (MFLOPS) - SiSoft Sandra Whetstone (MFLOPS)
100%
1 P8400 +
15993 MFLOPS (12%)
PCMark 05 - PCMark 05 - Standard
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 3410     avg: 5117     median: 5201.5 (11%)     max: 6255 Points
Windows Vista Experience Index - Windows Vista Leistungsindex - Prozessor
100%
1 P8400 +
5.2 Points (74%)
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. CPU no Physx
100%
1 P8400 +
min: 3518     avg: 4111     median: 4340 (4%)     max: 4475 Points
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Single-Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 3026     avg: 3077     median: 3076 (83%)     max: 3130 Points
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Multi-Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 11863     avg: 11984     median: 11992 (47%)     max: 12066 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 2256     avg: 2316     median: 2342 (99%)     max: 2350 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
100%
1 M3 +
min: 10570     avg: 10697     median: 10748 (19%)     max: 10774 Points
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
100%
1 M3 +
min: 362.8     avg: 366.4     median: 363.1 (0%)     max: 373.2 ms
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
100%
1 M3 +
min: 96622     avg: 97216     median: 96933 (85%)     max: 98093 Points
WebXPRT 4 - WebXPRT 4 Score
100%
1 M3 +
min: 313     avg: 314     median: 314 (90%)     max: 315 Points
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
100%
1 M3 +
min: 423     avg: 438.7     median: 445 (93%)     max: 448 Points
CrossMark - CrossMark Overall
100%
1 M3 +
min: 1847     avg: 1850     median: 1847 (71%)     max: 1857 Points
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption - external Monitor *
100%
1 M3 +
min: 2.63     avg: 2.8     median: 2.8 (2%)     max: 2.87 Watt
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption 150cd 1min *
100%
1 M3 +
min: 3.94     avg: 4.4     median: 4.4 (5%)     max: 4.7 Watt

Average Benchmarks Apple M3 → 0% n=

Average Benchmarks Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 → 0% n=

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)