Nintendo Switch vs Intel Pentium 2020M

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Pentium 2020M
Nintendo Switch Intel Pentium 2020M

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Intel Pentium 2020M and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Intel Pentium 2020M which has 2 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2012.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Intel Pentium (150)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Intel Pentium 2000 (5)
2 Generation 4
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture Ivy Bridge U
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The 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 Pentium 2020M clocks with 2.40 GHz, has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Pentium 2020M
8 Cores 2
8 Threads 2
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 2.40 GHz
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core --

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.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Pentium 2020M
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge GT1)
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.10 GHz
1 GPU Generation 7
20 nm Technology 22 nm
1 Max. displays 3
2 Compute units 6
256 Shader 48
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
12 DirectX Version 11.0

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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge GT1)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Intel Pentium 2020M supports a maximum of 32 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Pentium 2020M
LPDDR4-3200 Memory DDR3L-1333, DDR3L-1600, DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600
4 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 2.00 MB
-- PCIe version 2.0
-- PCIe lanes 16
-- PCIe Bandwidth 8.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Intel Pentium 2020M is 35 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Pentium 2020M
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 35 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 90 °C

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Intel Pentium 2020M is at 2.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 22 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Intel Pentium 2020M
20 nm Technology 22 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2
-- Socket PGA 988
None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
No AES-NI Yes
Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q1/2017 Release date Q3/2012
-- Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Nintendo Switch to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.8 stars (8 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (67%)
Intel Pentium 2020M (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (96%)
Intel Pentium 2020M (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (67%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
403 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (96%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
731 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (100%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge GT1) @ 1.10 GHz
106 (27%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
473 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
886 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
1371 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Pentium 2020M Intel Pentium 2020M
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
465 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Intel Pentium 2020M
Nintendo Switch Unknown

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