Home / CPU Comparison / Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) or Intel Pentium 997: What's better?

Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)

vs

Intel Pentium 997

CPU Comparison Result

Below are the results of a comparison of Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU) and Intel Pentium 997 processors based on key performance characteristics, as well as power consumption and much more.

Advantages

Apple M5 Max (40-core GPU)

More Total Cores: 18 (18 vs 2)
Higher Technology: Third-generation 3 nm (Third-generation 3 nm vs 32 nm)
Higher Memory Type: LPDDR5X unified memory (LPDDR5X unified memory vs DDR3 1066/1333)
Newer Launch Date: March 2026 (March 2026 vs July 2012)

Basic

Apple

Label Name

Intel

March 2026

Launch Date

July 2012

Laptop

Platform

Mobile

Apple custom ARM architecture

CPU Architecture

Apple M5 Max

CPU Name

Apple M5 Max 40-Core GPU

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.

997

Code Name

Sandy Bridge

TSMC N3P

Foundry

M5 Max

Generation

CPU Specifications

Apple Fusion Architecture

Interconnect Technology

Performance Cores

4.38 GHz

Performance-core Multi-Core Max Frequency

Prime Cores

4.61 GHz

Prime-core Multi-Core Max Frequency

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.

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.

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.

4.61 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

Instruction Set Extensions

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

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.

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.

CPU Socket

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

FCBGA1023

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.

Third-generation 3 nm

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.

32 nm

Max. Operating Temperature

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

100C

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.

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

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

PCI Express Configurations

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

1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8 2x4

Memory Specifications

LPDDR5X unified memory

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.

DDR3 1066/1333

128 GB

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.

614 GB/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).

21.3 GB/s

9600 MT/s

Maximum Memory Speed

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Intel Flex Memory Access

Yes

GPU Specifications

Thunderbolt / DisplayPort 2.1 over USB-C; HDMI

External Display Standard

Apple M5 Max 40-core GPU

GPU Name

Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors

Supported

Hardware-accelerated ray tracing

Up to four external displays: four displays up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz; or two displays up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz

Max External Display Resolution

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed

Video Decode

H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW; hardware-accelerated; frame rate not disclosed

Video Encode

Graphics Base Frequency

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

350 MHz

Graphics Core Count

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.

1.00 GHz

Up to 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz

Max Resolution

Number of Displays Supported

Metal

GPU APIs

Graphics Output

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

eDP/DP/HDMI/SDVO/CRT

Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; AV1 decode

Media Engine

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.

Video Decode Engines

Video Encode Engines

ProRes Encode/Decode Engines

Intel InTru 3D Technology

Intel Quick Sync Video

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

AI Specifications

Apple Neural Engine with Neural Accelerators in GPU cores

AI Engine

Neural Engine Core Count

16-core Neural Engine

NPU Name

Connectivity

Supported

Bluetooth Support

Bluetooth Version

Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)

Wi-Fi Standard

Apple N1 wireless networking chip

Wireless System

Interfaces and Ports

Thunderbolt 5

Thunderbolt Support

USB 4 up to 120Gb/s

USB Version

Supported

USB4 Support

Miscellaneous

Memory Integrity Enforcement

Runtime Anti-Exploitation

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