Core i3-5010U vs Celeron G3900

The Core i3-5010U packs 2 cores / 4 threads, matching the Celeron G3900's 2 cores. Boost clocks reach 2.1 GHz on the Core i3-5010U versus 2.8 GHz on the Celeron G3900 — a 28.6% clock advantage for the Celeron G3900 (base: 2.1 GHz vs 2.8 GHz). The Core i3-5010U uses the Broadwell-U (2015) architecture (14 nm), while the Celeron G3900 uses Skylake (2015−2016) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core i3-5010U scores 2,157 against the Celeron G3900's 2,155 — a 0.1% lead for the Core i3-5010U. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 737 vs 680, a 8% lead for the Core i3-5010U that directly translates to higher frame rates. L3 cache: 3 MB (total) on the Core i3-5010U vs 4 MB (total) on the Celeron G3900.

The Core i3-5010U uses the FCBGA1168 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Celeron G3900 uses LGA1151 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR3L-1600 on the Core i3-5010U versus DDR4-2133 on the Celeron G3900 — the Celeron G3900 supports 28.6% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Celeron G3900 supports up to 64 GB of RAM compared to 16 GB — 120% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 12 (Core i3-5010U) vs 16 (Celeron G3900) — the Celeron G3900 offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Neither processor supports overclocking. Virtualization support: VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i3-5010U) vs VT-x, VT-d (Celeron G3900). Both include integrated graphics — HD Graphics 5500 (Core i3-5010U) and Intel HD Graphics 510 (Celeron G3900) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i3-5010U targets Mainstream Laptop, Celeron G3900 targets Desktop. Direct competitor: Core i3-5010U rivals A10-8700P; Celeron G3900 rivals Pentium G4400.