Intel Core i5-1334U vs AMD Athlon II N330 vs Intel Processor U300

Intel Core i5-1334U

The Intel Core i5-1334U is a mid-range mobile CPU for thin and light laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture (Raptor Lake-U / RPL-U series). It was announced in early 2023 and offers 2  performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 12 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.3 to 4.6 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.9 to 3.4 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 12 MB L3 cache. The CPU supports only "Essentials" vPro management features. Compared to the P-series (28W) or H-series (45W), the 15W TDP may limit the sustained performance.

Performance

Thanks to the similar clock speed, the Core i5-1334U is very similar to the older Core i7-1250U (+100 MHz P-Cores base clock rate). The faster i7 like the i7-1365U models offer only higher clock rates (and a faster iGPU). Compared to the similar i5-1335U, the 1334U only supports slower LPDDR5-5200 (vs 6400 of the faster models) and is therefore slightly slower.

Architecture

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to LPDDR5-5200. 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 still only supports PCIe 4.0 x8 for a GPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 for SSDs.

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 80 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.25 GHz.

Power consumption

This Core i5 CPU is rated at a TDP of 15W (base power, PL1) and a maximum turbo power of 55W (PL2). The RPL-U processors are built in a further improved Intel 7 process (10nm SuperFin) that allows higher clock rates.

AMD Athlon II N330

The AMD Athlon II N330 is an entry to mid range dual core processor for laptops. Compared to the faster Phenom II and Turion II processors of 2010, the Athlon II N330 features only a 64 Bit FPU (Floating Point Unit), and not 128 Bit as the Athlon II Desktop.

The Athlon II N330 offers an integrated DDR3-1066 (or 800 according to Wikipedia) dual-channel memory controller and a 1.6 GHz HyperTransport 3.0 link (HT3200) to the chipset.

The performance of the Athlon N330 should be on par with a 2.1-2.3 GHz clocked Pentium / Core 2 Duo processor of 2009. First Passmark CPU scores are similar to a Intel Core 2 Duo T4300 with 2.1 GHz.

Intel Processor U300

The Intel Processor U300 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops of the Raptor Lake-U series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers one performance core (Raptor Cove architecture P-core, similar to Alder Lake) and 4 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading for 6 processing threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 1.2 to 4.4 GHz on the performance cluster and 0.9 to 3.3 GHz on the efficient cluster. The per-clock performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores have access to 8 MB of L3 cache.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system powered by the U300 as of February 2024, its performance should be very similar to the outgoing Alder Lake Pentium 8505, since there is little difference between the two. The average U300 is set to be 10% to 20% behind the Ryzen 3 5300U and the Core i7-1185G7, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned, making the former an entry-level chip as of early 2024.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are.

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. Several PCIe 4 lanes (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs) as well as several PCIe 3 lanes are on offer.

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe architecture and offers 48 of the 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.1 GHz.

Power consumption

The U300 has a base power consumption of 15 W, with 55 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption. The CPU is built with a 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7.