Google Tensor vs Intel Atom C3950

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Google Tensor CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Atom C3950
Google Tensor Intel Atom C3950

CPU comparison

Google Tensor or Intel Atom C3950 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Google Tensor has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.80 GHz. Up to 12 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Google Tensor was released in Q4/2021.

The Intel Atom C3950 has 16 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 256 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Atom C3950 was released in Q3/2017.
Google Tensor (3) Family Intel Atom (108)
Google Tensor (1) CPU group Intel Atom C3000 (20)
1 Generation 5
G1 Architecture Denverton
Mobile Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
Google Tensor G2 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Google Tensor has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Google Tensor is 2.80 GHz while the Intel Atom C3950 has 16 CPU cores and 16 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Atom C3950 is at 1.70 GHz (2.20 GHz).

Google Tensor Characteristic Intel Atom C3950
8 Cores 16
8 Threads 16
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.80 GHz
2x Cortex-X1
A-Core 1.70 GHz (2.20 GHz)
2.25 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
B-Core --
1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A55
C-Core --

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.

Google Tensor Characteristic Intel Atom C3950
Google Tensor AI AI hardware --
Google Edge TPU @ 1.6 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Google Tensor or Intel Atom C3950 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

ARM Mali-G78 MP20 GPU no iGPU
0.76 GHz GPU frequency --
-- GPU (Turbo) --
Vallhall 2 GPU Generation --
5 nm Technology
1 Max. displays
20 Compute units --
320 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory --
12 DirectX Version --

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.

ARM Mali-G78 MP20 GPU no iGPU
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode / Encode Codec VC-1 No
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Google Tensor can use up to 12 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 53.0 GB/s. The Intel Atom C3950 supports up to 256 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 38.4 GB/s.

Google Tensor Characteristic Intel Atom C3950
LPDDR5-5500 Memory DDR4-2400
12 GB Max. Memory 256 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
53.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC Yes
8.00 MB L2 Cache 16.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 3.0
-- PCIe lanes 16
-- PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Google Tensor is 10 W, while the Intel Atom C3950 has a TDP of 24 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Google Tensor Characteristic Intel Atom C3950
10 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 24 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Google Tensor is manufactured in 5 nm and has 8.00 MB cache. The Intel Atom C3950 is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 16.00 MB cache.

Google Tensor Characteristic Intel Atom C3950
5 nm Technology 14 nm
Unknown Chip design Monolithic
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2
-- Socket BGA 1310
None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
No AES-NI Yes
Android Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q4/2021 Release date Q3/2017
-- Release price 389 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Google Tensor to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.1 stars (8 ratings). Rate now:
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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.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
1043 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
2915 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
1494 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
3639 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
ARM Mali-G78 MP20 @ 0.76 GHz
1943 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
691770 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 1.70 GHz
0 (0%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
612494 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 1.70 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

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. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Google Tensor Google Tensor
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
1.6 (100%)
Intel Atom C3950 Intel Atom C3950
16C 16T @ 1.70 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Google Tensor Intel Atom C3950
Google Pixel 6
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Unknown

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