Raspberry Pi 4 B (Broadcom BCM2711) vs Intel Atom N2800

The Intel Atom N2800 (Cedarview), designed in late 2011 for netbooks, aimed for minimal power consumption.

The Broadcom BCM2711 (Cortex-A72) is the processor of the Raspberry Pi 4 B, released in mid-2019, for single-board computers and IoT. The N2800, manufactured in 32 nm, offers two cores, four threads, and 1 MB of L3 cache. Max memory bandwidth is 9 GB/s. The BCM2711, manufactured in 28 nm, has four powerful ARM Cortex-A72 cores, 1 MB of L2 cache, and 13 GB/s memory bandwidth.

The BCM2711 significantly outperforms the N2800 in single-core and multi-core performance. The Broadcom VideoCore VI GPU of the BCM2711 is far superior to the Intel GMA 3600 of the N2800 for gaming and 4K video. The N2800 is characterized by extremely low power consumption. Despite higher performance, the BCM2711 is energy-efficient but may require active cooling under load.

The N2800 is now only available secondhand. The BCM2711 in the Raspberry Pi 4 B offers excellent value for money. The Broadcom BCM2711 of the Raspberry Pi 4 B delivers higher computing and graphics performance for modern applications. The Intel Atom N2800 is an older, economical solution for simple tasks.

For performance and connectivity, the Raspberry Pi 4 B is the clear choice. The N2800 is suitable for maximum energy efficiency in basic legacy device applications.