Intel Core i3-10100E vs Intel Celeron 2981U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i3-10100E CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Celeron 2981U
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Celeron 2981U

CPU comparison

Intel Core i3-10100E or Intel Celeron 2981U - 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 Intel Core i3-10100E has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.80 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-10100E was released in Q2/2020.

The Intel Celeron 2981U has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.40 GHz. The CPU supports up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Celeron 2981U was released in Q3/2013.
Intel Core i3 (205) Family Intel Celeron (165)
Intel Core i 10000 (43) CPU group Intel Celeron 2000 (7)
10 Generation 4
Comet Lake S Architecture Haswell U
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
Intel Core i3-9100E Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-10100E has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-10100E is 3.20 GHz (3.80 GHz) while the Intel Celeron 2981U has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Celeron 2981U is at 1.40 GHz.

Intel Core i3-10100E Characteristic Intel Celeron 2981U
4 Cores 2
8 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.20 GHz Frequency 1.40 GHz
3.80 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) --
-- Turbo Frequency (All Cores) --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Intel Core i3-10100E Characteristic Intel Celeron 2981U
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Intel Core i3-10100E or Intel Celeron 2981U 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.

Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU Intel HD Graphics (Haswell GT1)
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 0.20 GHz
1.10 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.00 GHz
9.5 GPU Generation 7.5
14 nm Technology 22 nm
3 Max. displays 3
24 Compute units 10
192 Shader 80
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
64 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
12 DirectX Version 11.1

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.

Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU Intel HD Graphics (Haswell GT1)
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i3-10100E can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 42.7 GB/s. The Intel Celeron 2981U supports up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.

Intel Core i3-10100E Characteristic Intel Celeron 2981U
DDR4-2666 Memory LPDDR3-1600, DDR3L-1600
128 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
42.7 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
6.00 MB L3 Cache 2.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 2.0
16 PCIe lanes 12
15.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 6.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i3-10100E is 65 W, while the Intel Celeron 2981U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i3-10100E Characteristic Intel Celeron 2981U
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i3-10100E is manufactured in 14 nm and has 6.00 MB cache. The Intel Celeron 2981U is manufactured in 22 nm and has a 2.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i3-10100E Characteristic Intel Celeron 2981U
14 nm Technology 22 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2
LGA 1200 Socket BGA 1168
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q2/2020 Release date Q3/2013
138 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-10100E (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U (37%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-10100E (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U (17%)

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.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
960 (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
354 (37%)

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.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
3382 (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
694 (21%)

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.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
Intel UHD Graphics 630 @ 1.10 GHz
422 (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
Intel HD Graphics (Haswell GT1) @ 1.00 GHz
160 (38%)

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.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
8235 (100%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
1024 (12%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
63 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Core i3-10100E
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Celeron 2981U Intel Celeron 2981U
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
124 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i3-10100E Intel Celeron 2981U
Unknown Unknown

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