Nintendo Switch vs Intel Core i3-1215U
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CPU comparison with benchmarks
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| Nintendo Switch | Intel Core i3-1215U | |
CPU comparisonIn this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Intel Core i3-1215U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.
We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Intel Core i3-1215U which has 6 CPU cores and was introduced in Q1/2022. |
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| NVIDIA Tegra (2) | Family | Intel Core i3 (205) |
| NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) | CPU group | Intel Core i 1200P/1200U (21) |
| 2 | Generation | 12 |
| Cortex-A57/-A53 | Architecture | Alder Lake U |
| Mobile | Segment | Mobile |
| -- | Predecessor | -- |
| -- | Successor | Intel Core i3-1315U |
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CPU Cores and Base FrequencyThe Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i3-1215U clocks with 1.20 GHz (4.40 GHz), has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. |
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| Nintendo Switch | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-1215U |
| 8 | Cores | 6 |
| 8 | Threads | 8 |
| hybrid (big.LITTLE) | Core architecture | hybrid (big.LITTLE) |
| No | Hyperthreading | Yes |
| No | Overclocking ? | No |
| 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz) 4x Cortex-A57 |
A-Core | 1.20 GHz (4.40 GHz) 2x Golden Cove |
| 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz) 4x Cortex-A53 |
B-Core | 0.90 GHz (3.30 GHz) 4x Gracemont |
Integrated graphics (iGPU)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. |
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| NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) | GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics 64 (Alder Lake) |
| 0.30 GHz | GPU frequency | 0.30 GHz |
| 0.77 GHz | GPU (Turbo) | 1.10 GHz |
| 1 | GPU Generation | 13 |
| 20 nm | Technology | 10 nm |
| 1 | Max. displays | 4 |
| 2 | Compute units | 64 |
| 256 | Shader | 512 |
| No | Hardware Raytracing | No |
| No | Frame Generation | No |
| 2 GB | Max. GPU Memory | 32 GB |
| 12 | DirectX Version | 12.1 |
Hardware codec supportA 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. |
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| NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) | GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics 64 (Alder Lake) |
| Decode | Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec h264 | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec VP9 | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec VP8 | Decode |
| No | Codec AV1 | Decode |
| Decode | Codec AVC | Decode / Encode |
| Decode | Codec VC-1 | Decode |
| Decode / Encode | Codec JPEG | Decode / Encode |
Memory & PCIeUp to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Intel Core i3-1215U supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s enabled. |
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| Nintendo Switch | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-1215U |
| LPDDR4-3200 | Memory | LPDDR5-5200, LPDDR4X-4266, DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| 4 GB | Max. Memory | 64 GB |
| 2 (Dual Channel) | Memory channels | 2 (Dual Channel) |
| 25.6 GB/s | Max. Bandwidth | 83.2 GB/s |
| No | ECC | No |
| 2.50 MB | L2 Cache | 4.50 MB |
| -- | L3 Cache | 10.00 MB |
| -- | PCIe version | 4.0 |
| -- | PCIe lanes | 28 |
| -- | PCIe Bandwidth | 55.1 GB/s |
Thermal ManagementThe Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i3-1215U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution. |
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| Nintendo Switch | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-1215U |
| 5 W | TDP (PL1 / PBP) | 15 W |
| -- | TDP (PL2) | 55 W |
| -- | TDP up | -- |
| 5 W | TDP down | -- |
| -- | Tjunction max. | 100 °C |
Technical detailsThe Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Intel Core i3-1215U is at 14.50 MB. The processor is manufactured in 10 nm. |
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| Nintendo Switch | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-1215U |
| 20 nm | Technology | 10 nm |
| Chiplet | Chip design | Monolithic |
| Armv8-A (64 bit) | Instruction set (ISA) | x86-64 (64 bit) |
| -- | ISA extensions | SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 |
| -- | Socket | BGA 1744 |
| None | Virtualization | VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d |
| No | AES-NI | Yes |
| Operating systems | Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux | |
| Q1/2017 | Release date | Q1/2022 |
| -- | Release price | -- |
| show more data | show more data | |
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
6C 8T @ 1.20 GHz (4.40 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
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Rate these processors
Average performance in benchmarks
⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 4.40 GHz |
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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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 1.80 GHz |
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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.
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Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 64 (Alder Lake) @ 1.10 GHz |
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Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 4.40 GHz |
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Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 1.80 GHz |
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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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 4.40 GHz |
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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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 1.80 GHz |
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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.
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Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz |
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Intel Core i3-1215U
6C 8T @ 1.80 GHz |
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Devices using this processor |
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| Nintendo Switch | Intel Core i3-1215U |
| Nintendo Switch | Unknown |
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