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Intel Celeron 3215U

Intel Celeron 3215U: A Budget Processor for Basic Tasks in 2025

Analysis of the Capabilities and Relevance of a Decade-Old Architecture

Architecture and Technology Process: The Legacy of Broadwell

The Intel Celeron 3215U processor, released in 2015, is based on the Broadwell microarchitecture—the fifth generation of Intel Core processors. It is one of the last lines before the company transitioned to 10nm technology, though the Celeron 3215U is manufactured using a 14nm process. Key features include:

- 2 cores and 2 threads: The absence of Hyper-Threading limits multitasking.

- Base frequency of 1.7 GHz: Turbo mode is not supported, which is typical for budget Celeron models.

- Integrated Intel HD Graphics (Broadwell GT1): 12 execution units, with a frequency up to 850 MHz. Suitable only for basic tasks like video playback.

The Broadwell architecture brought improvements in energy efficiency compared to Haswell, but even in 2015, the Celeron 3215U was considered an "entry-level" solution. In 2025, its capabilities appear outdated compared to modern processors with Big.Little cores (as in ARM) or 7nm AMD Ryzen 3 chips.

Power Consumption and TDP: 15 Watts for Ultraportable Devices

The 15 W TDP allows the processor to be used in thin laptops and Chromebooks without active cooling. However, in reality, most devices with the Celeron 3215U are equipped with modest heatsinks and fans due to budget positioning.

Advantages of Low TDP:

- Minimal heat generation.

- Possibility of creating compact cases.

- Compatibility with passive cooling systems (rare, but found in select ultrabooks).

Disadvantages:

- Performance is sacrificed for energy efficiency.

Performance: The Reality of 2025

Geekbench 6 test results (332 points in single-core, 587 in multi-core) show that the Celeron 3215U lags behind even contemporary budget processors.

Office Tasks

- Microsoft Office, Google Docs: Document processing is possible, but lag occurs when opening 10+ browser tabs simultaneously.

- Zoom/Teams: HD video calls can push the CPU to 80-90% usage, resulting in potential stuttering.

Multimedia

- YouTube/Netflix: Playback of 1080p video (via hardware acceleration) is stable.

- Photo Editing: Basic edits in Lightroom or GIMP are possible, but rendering can take 2-3 times longer than with the 2023 Pentium Gold.

Gaming

- Integrated Graphics: Games are limited to titles released before 2010 (e.g., Half-Life 2) at low settings. Even in 2025, Minecraft will run at 20-25 FPS.

Use Cases: Who Is the Celeron 3215U Suitable For?

This processor is relevant only for:

1. Students needing a cheap laptop for lectures and document work.

2. Older users using their device for Skype, email, and news reading.

3. Secondary devices — for example, a "kitchen" laptop for recipes.

Do not consider the Celeron 3215U if you:

- Work with graphics or video editing.

- Plan to use the laptop for more than 3 years.

- Play modern games.

Battery Life: Up to 8 Hours Under Ideal Conditions

With a battery capacity of 40-45 Wh, laptops with the Celeron 3215U show:

- 6-8 hours during web surfing.

- 4-5 hours during video playback.

Energy-Saving Technologies:

- Intel SpeedStep — dynamic frequency scaling.

- C-states — disabling unused cores.

However, the absence of modern technologies like Intel Thread Director (in hybrid processors) reduces efficiency in load management.

Comparison with Competitors: What to Buy Instead of Celeron 3215U?

Even in the budget segment of 2025, the Celeron 3215U falls behind its competitors:

1. AMD Athlon Silver 7120U (2023): 2 cores/2 threads, 15 W TDP, but Zen 2 architecture and Radeon Graphics offer a +40% performance boost (laptop prices: $300-$400).

2. Intel Processor N200 (2023): 4 cores/4 threads, 6 W TDP, Wi-Fi 6 support (laptops starting at $280).

3. Apple M1 (2020): In used MacBook Airs — performance is twice as high and battery life reaches 18 hours (used starting from $400, no new units are being produced).

Pros and Cons of Celeron 3215U

Strengths:

- Low prices of laptops ($250-$350).

- Sufficient for basic tasks.

- Compact and lightweight designs.

Weaknesses:

- Outdated architecture.

- No headroom for future software updates.

- Weak graphics performance.

Recommendations for Choosing a Laptop

If you decide to purchase a device with the Celeron 3215U, pay attention to:

- Type of storage: Only SSD (minimum 128 GB). HDD will make the system unresponsive.

- RAM: 8 GB is the necessary minimum. 4 GB will be insufficient even for Chrome in 2025.

- Display: Full HD resolution is preferable over HD (1366x768), but is rarely available.

- Port selection: Prioritize up-to-date ports for better compatibility.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

April 2015

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

3215U

Code Name

Broadwell

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

1.70 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCBGA1168

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

15 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

105°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

2.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

4x1 2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR3L 1333/1600 LPDDR3 1333/1600

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

16 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

5 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

25.6 GB/s

GPU Specifications

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics for 5th Generation Intel® Processors

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

300 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

850 MHz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

11.2/12

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP/DP/HDMI

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

2 MB

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Intel Clear Video Technology

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel InTru 3D Technology

Yes

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

332

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

587

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

363

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

679

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1051

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

1123

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Pentium G630T

404 +21.7%

Pentium Silver N5000

370 +11.4%

Celeron 3215U

332

Celeron 3205U

278 -16.3%

A4-5150M

222 -33.1%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Pentium 4405U

825 +40.5%

A8-5550M

678 +15.5%

Celeron 3215U

587

Celeron 3205U

483 -17.7%

Xeon E5-2676 v3

319 -45.7%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Xeon E5-2640 v2

422 +16.3%

Celeron 7305

394 +8.5%

Celeron 3215U

363

Core i5-2467M

328 -9.6%

A8-3510MX

288 -20.7%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i3-2348M

845 +24.4%

Xeon E3-1220L v3

779 +14.7%

Celeron 3215U

679

Celeron B810

568 -16.3%

Celeron N2910

460 -32.3%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Xeon E5640

1157 +10.1%

Xeon E5-1428L

1096 +4.3%

Celeron 3215U

1051

Xeon E5607

1002 -4.7%

A8-3550MX

938 -10.8%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Pentium N3710

1382 +23.1%

A6-5400K

1264 +12.6%

Celeron 3215U

1123

A4-3300

962 -14.3%

Atom Z3770

736 -34.5%