Intel Atom x7-Z8750 vs Intel Core i3-1315U

Intel Atom x7-Z8750

The Atom x7-Z8750 is a quad-core SoC for entry-level laptops and passive-cooled tablets, which has been presented in early 2016. It is clocked at 1.1 - 2.56 GHz and part of the Cherry Trail platform. Thanks to its new 14 nanometer low-power process (P1273) with tri-gate transistors, energy efficiency has been significantly improved compared to its predecessor Bay Trail. In addition to the CPU cores, the SoC offers a DirectX 11.2-capable GPU as well as a DDR3L Memory Controller (2x 64 bit, 25.6 GB/s).

Compared to the similar Pentium N3710, the Atom x7-Z8750 is tuned for less power consumption and offers less PCI-Express lanes (2 instead of 4) and less USB 3.0 ports (3 instead of 5). Furthermore, the integrated GPU clocks only at 600 (instead of 700) MHz and the memory controller supports LPDDR3-1600.

Architecture

The processor cores are based on the Airmont architecture, which is basically a slightly modified shrink of the previous Silvermont core. While performance per clock has not been improved, the more efficient 14 nm process leads to a better utilization of the CPU Burst (alias Turbo Boost) and a therefore somewhat higher overall performance.

Performance

Due to the passive cooling and lower TDP, the Atom x7-Z8750 is a bit slower than the similar clocked Pentium N3710. The boost frequency of the CPU cores wont be used as long as in an average Pentium based laptop. However, if TDP and cooling are similar, the performance should be comparable. Using Windows, the CPU is adequate for everyday tasks such as Internet browsing or office applications, but may struggle in more demanding software or multitasking.

Graphics

The HD Graphics 405 (Braswell) is based on the Intel Gen8 architecture, which supports DirectX 11.2 and is also found in the Broadwell series (e.g. HD Graphics 5300). With 16 EUs (Execution Units) and a clock speed of up to 600 MHz, the GPU is about twice as fast as the HD Graphics (Bay Trail), but still not powerful enough to handle demanding 3D games of 2015. The GPU also supports 4K/H.265 video acceleration.

Power Consumption

The entire SoC is not rated with a TDP, but only an SDP (Scenario Design Power) of 2 Watt (N3710 SDP 4 Watt, TDP 6 Watt). Thus, the chip can be cooled passively.

Intel Core i3-1315U

The Intel Core i3-1315U is a mid-range mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Raptor Lake-U series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers 2 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 4 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 8 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.2 to 4.5 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.9 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. 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 10 MB L3-cache. Compared to the faster i5 and i7 models, the i3 does not include vPro features.

Performance

Thanks to the 100 MHz higher Boost clock speed of the P-Cores, the i3-1315U should be slightly faster than the old i3-1215U.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 64 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.25 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 15 W base power (TDP, PL1) and 55 W max. Turbo power (PL2) and the whole SoC is manufactured in a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.