Intel Atom vs. Intel Celeron vs. Intel Pentium CPUs: Differences

Intel has one of the most confusing naming conventions for its CPUs. The names tell you absolutely nothing about where a processor stands in the speed hierarchy.

To confuse you even more, Intel has three lines of budget CPUs, namely Atom, Celeron, and Pentium CPUs, all aiming for a very specific segment of the market.

However, for an average user, the difference between Intel Atom vs. Intel Celeron vs. Intel Pentium can sometimes be too minute to deduce.

And if that wasn’t enough to confuse you, there are even different sub-segments of the series, i.e., Intel Pentium Gold and Intel Pentium Silver. 

Looking at these three entry-level series of CPUs as a fresher can easily overwhelm you. In this article, we will break down each of these lines of CPUs and discuss how they compare.

Intel’s Three Different Lines of CPU for the Budget Segment

Essentially, Intel Atom, Celeron, and the Pentium series all belong to the entry-level market segment.

Why have three different lines of CPUs for the budget segment?

Well, this has to do more with the nuances of the budget market.

Some segments of the budget market are far lower demand than the rest.

So while Intel Celeron CPUs are highly affordable and intended for very light use cases, the Intel Pentium CPUs are slightly more expensive but great for basic productivity.

In the price/performance hierarchy, the series are ranked as follows:

1. Intel Atom Processors

Intel Atom processors were originally designed to compete directly with the leading ultra-low-powered mobile processor companies for smartphones and tablets, namely:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon
• Apple Bionic
• Samsung Exynos

However, they failed as they could not make a significant dent in the smartphone and tablet market.

And hence, the Atom processors have been discontinued for all mobile devices since 2016.

Perhaps the most successful application of the Intel Atom processors was with the netbooks.

Netbooks were the baby version of the conventional laptops using Windows OS. They were small, cheap, compact, and used weak processors like Intel’s Atom processor.

However, as the tablets advanced and as Google Chromebooks became an alternative option for affordable and ultra-portable computing, netbooks became obsolete, and so did the value of Atom processors for the overall laptop market.

In the final days of the Intel Atom processors, the following were the most powerful CPUs from the series for mobile devices:

While the Intel Atom series has been discontinued for all commercial-based mobile devices and computers, it continues its existence for Servers, Embedded Storage Appliances, Cellular Infrastructure Applications, etc.

Also Read: Intel K vs. KF vs. F Series CPU

2. Intel Celeron CPUs

Intel Celeron CPUs are synonymous with ultra-budget computing.

With the discontinuation of Intel Atom CPUs for computers in 2016, Intel Celeron now holds the notorious title of being the slowest CPU you can find in the market for laptops and desktops in any given generation.

Intel Celeron CPUs are basically dual-core CPUs WITHOUT hyperthreading enabled. Hence they feature two threads only.

They are some of the worst-performing CPUs in both single-core and multi-core performance benchmarks.

There are exceptions, however. For instance, the newest Intel Celeron N5100 features four cores and four threads.

Popular and Latest Intel Celeron CPUs

There are separate lines of Intel Celeron CPUs for Desktop and Laptops.

• “G” Series Celeron CPUs are for Desktops
• “N” Series Celeron CPUs are for Laptops

As with all CPUs, the desktop-based Celeron CPUs are more powerful than their laptop-based counterparts. They also have a much higher TDP.

Currently, the Intel N4020 released back in 2019 is still a very popular Celeron CPU for entry-level laptops. The newer Intel Celeron N4500 and the N5100 are more powerful but rare. They may pick up steam soon.

One of the most popular and powerful Celeron CPUs for desktops is the Intel Celeron G5905.

The table above shows how some of the newer and popular Celeron CPUs compare in performance.

It should be noted that just because a certain CPU is the flagship – the most powerful in the series – it does not mean it is popular.

Therefore, as a buyer, when comparing Celeron CPUs with the rest, you would essentially take a readily available model for comparison.

For instance, currently, for laptops, the most powerful Intel Celeron CPU is the N5100. However, since it is rare and almost nonexistent in products at the moment, it is not a great basis for comparison – for now.

Instead, you would look at the N4020 released in 2019 for a better comparison.

Compared to Intel Atom CPUs, judging by the benchmarks, even the weakest N4020 is more powerful than the Intel Atom x7-Z8750.

However, in Intel Atom x7-Z8750’s defense, it was released in 2016 (three years earlier than N4020).

Also Read: Difference Between Intel Celeron vs. i3

What is an Intel Celeron CPU Suitable For?

Intel Celeron CPUs are very popular among those with basic computing needs. This includes tasks like:

• Web browsing
• Video conferencing
• Basic Homework/Schoolwork – research, essay and report writing, etc.
• Email correspondence
• Social media use
• Netflix and video entertainment

Also Read:

• Is Intel Celeron Good for School Work?
• Is Intel Celeron Good for Gaming?

3. Intel Pentium Processors

Intel Pentium processors position themselves as being the basic productivity CPUs.

They are far inferior to the next CPUs series in line, the Core i3, but for those who want a seamless performance and a fair degree of multitasking capability, Intel Pentium CPUs are the way to go.

The idea here is that while Intel Celeron CPUs can show lag and a lacking performance even in the most basic tasks (particularly multitasking), Intel Pentium CPUs can provide a smoother performance.

They can even be used for light gaming.

Intel Pentium CPUs were the flagship CPUs before the release of Intel Core series CPUs in 2006.

However, as it stands, compared to the original Pentium CPUs, the current Pentium CPUs share very little in common in terms of architecture.

The Pentium series is further bifurcated into two lines: Silver and Gold.

Intel Pentium Silver vs. Intel Pentium Gold

As if the Intel entry-level line of Intel CPUs wasn’t confusing enough, Intel has further divided the series into the Silver and Gold lines.

For starters, despite what common intuition entails, the Intel Pentium Gold isn’t necessarily made to be superior to the Intel Pentium Silver CPUs.

They are two completely different products.

Intel Pentium Silver CPUs:

Intel Pentium Silver CPUs are essentially the souped-up version of the Celeron processors. 

For instance, Intel Celeron N4020 and the Intel Pentium Silver N5030 belong to Intel’s Gemini Lake generation.

They are intended for completely different product categories than Pentium Gold CPUs.

You cannot buy Intel Silver CPUs off the shelf. Instead, these come with pre-built OEM-only PCs and devices.

Intel Pentium Silver CPUs are intended for very low-powered devices and promise a long battery life. Hence, they primarily target the mobile/notebook segment.

Here are some of the popular and latest Intel Pentium Silver CPUs.

Intel Pentium Gold CPUs:

Intel Pentium Gold CPUs follow the Core series architecture. Intel Pentium Gold is thus a rebranding of the Core series processors, except that they are a weaker version of a typical Core i3 processor.

Hence, they offer fewer cores, clock speed, or TDP than an Intel Core i3 processor but essentially hail from the same generation.

Again, the “Gold” in the name here does NOT entail that Intel Pentium Gold CPUs are superior to the Intel Silver CPUs. In the mobile segment, Intel Pentium Gold CPUs perform worse than Intel Pentium Silver CPUs.

The segment in which Intel Pentium Gold CPUs shine compared to the rest is desktops.

Compared to the rest of the series mentioned here, i.e., Atom, Celeron, and Pentium Silver, the Pentium Gold series has the best-performing desktop CPUs.

The table above shows that the Intel Pentium Gold CPUs perform excellently for the desktop segment.

The laptop-based Intel Pentium Gold 6405U is inferior to the Pentium Silver CPUs and some mobile-grade Celeron CPUs.

Therefore, Intel Pentium Gold processors are recommended for an entry-level desktop built for productivity.

What is an Intel Pentium CPU Suitable for?

Intel Pentium CPUs are great for

• Light multitasking (having multiple browser windows open, for instance).
• Light productivity (i.e., for casual editing)
• Light gaming (i.e., playing games like League of Legends, Minecraft, and even Fortnite).

The following video shows Fortnite being played on Intel Pentium Gold G6400:

Also Read: Is Intel Pentium Good for Gaming?

Intel Atom vs. Intel Celeron vs. Intel Pentium Benchmarks

The following shows the overall Passmark score of the various processors mentioned here. I have also added a 10th Intel Core i3 CPU in the mix for reference.

• Results are taken from CPUbenchmark.net

Also Read: Difference Between Pentium and Core i3 Processors

Celeron vs. Pentium Performance/Dollar Value Consideration

The overall performance/dollar value of the Intel Celeron and Pentium is quite consistent, meaning a higher dollar would give you a fair and direct increase in performance.

For instance, take the popular current-gen Desktop-Based Celeron CPU, such as the Intel Celeron G5905. It has an MSRP of $42.

A popular current-gen Intel Pentium G6400 CPU has an MSRP of $64 – about a 65% increase in price compared to the Celeron.

Regarding the performance scores, Intel Celeron G5905 scores 2846 on Passmark, whereas the Intel Pentium G6400 scores 4155 – about a 68% higher score compared to the Celeron.

Of course, Passmark isn’t the only benchmark you should rely on, you should also consider Cinebench R15 and R20 benchmarks for comparison, but overall, the performance/dollar ratio of Celeron and Pentium CPUs is relatively consistent.

Final Words

Ultimately, the differences between Intel Atom vs. Intel Celeron vs. Intel Pentium are subtle but significant if you have a tight budget.

Essentially, the Celeron and the Pentium processors intend to target different market segments.

The Celeron is more focused on very basic computing. In fact, it does not get any more basic than a Celeron CPU.

The Pentium CPUs, however, are essentially stripped versions of the Core i3. If there ever were an Intel Core i1, the Intel Pentium (Gold) would essentially be replaced with it.

Pentium CPUs offer better performance and are great for tasks beyond basic computing, such as light gaming, casual editing, etc.

As far as the Atom processors are concerned, do not worry too much about them. They are obsolete and, therefore, should be of little significance to you.

Frequently Asked Questions