Apple A8X vs AMD Ryzen 5 3500C

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A8X CPU1 vs CPU2 AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
Apple A8X AMD Ryzen 5 3500C

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple A8X and the AMD Ryzen 5 3500C and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple A8X 3 core processor released in Q3/2014 with the AMD Ryzen 5 3500C which has 4 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2020.
Apple A series (22) Family AMD Ryzen 5 (84)
Apple A8/A8X (2) CPU group AMD Ryzen 3000C (3)
8 Generation 3
A8 Architecture Picasso (Zen+)
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A6X Predecessor --
Apple A9X Successor AMD Ryzen 5 5625C

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A8X is a 3 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.50 GHz. The processor can compute 3 threads at the same time. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500C clocks with 2.10 GHz (3.70 GHz), has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Apple A8X Characteristic AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
3 Cores 4
3 Threads 8
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
1.50 GHz Frequency 2.10 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.70 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 2.50 GHz

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Apple A8X Characteristic AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

Apple A8X GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Raven Ridge)
0.45 GHz GPU frequency 1.20 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
5 GPU Generation 8
20 nm Technology 14 nm
1 Max. displays 3
32 Compute units 8
256 Shader 512
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Apple A8X GPU AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Raven Ridge)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 2 GB of memory in a maximum of 1 memory channels is supported by the Apple A8X, while the AMD Ryzen 5 3500C supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s enabled.

Apple A8X Characteristic AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
LPDDR3-1600 Memory DDR4-2666
2 GB Max. Memory 64 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
12.8 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 42.7 GB/s
No ECC Yes
2.00 MB L2 Cache 2.00 MB
4.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 20
-- PCIe Bandwidth 19.7 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Apple A8X has a TDP of 8 W. The TDP of the AMD Ryzen 5 3500C is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple A8X Characteristic AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
8 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up 25 W
-- TDP down 12 W
-- Tjunction max. 105 °C

Technical details

The Apple A8X has 6.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of AMD Ryzen 5 3500C is at 6.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 12 nm.

Apple A8X Characteristic AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
20 nm Technology 12 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3
-- Socket FP5
None Virtualization AMD-V, SVM
No AES-NI Yes
iOS Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q3/2014 Release date Q3/2020
-- Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A8X to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the AMD Ryzen 5 3500C to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple A8X (50%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple A8X (42%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
3C 3T @ 1.50 GHz
386 (54%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
719 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
3C 3T @ 1.50 GHz
1075 (35%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
4C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
3080 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
3C 3T @ 1.50 GHz
427 (46%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
4C 8T @ 3.70 GHz
928 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
3C 3T @ 1.50 GHz
959 (46%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
4C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
2072 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
Apple A8X @ 0.45 GHz
230 (19%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Raven Ridge) @ 1.20 GHz
1229 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Apple A8X Apple A8X
3C 3T @ 1.50 GHz
2356 (44%)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500C AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
4C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
5377 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A8X AMD Ryzen 5 3500C
Apple iPad Air 2 Unknown

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