Core i5-3475S vs Celeron G6900E

The Core i5-3475S packs 4 cores / 4 threads, while the Celeron G6900E offers 2 cores / 2 threads — the Core i5-3475S has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.6 GHz on the Core i5-3475S versus 3 GHz on the Celeron G6900E — a 18.2% clock advantage for the Core i5-3475S (base: 2.9 GHz vs 3 GHz). The Core i5-3475S uses the Ivy Bridge (2012−2013) architecture (22 nm), while the Celeron G6900E uses Alder Lake-S (2022) (10 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-3475S scores 4,315 against the Celeron G6900E's 4,272 — a 1% lead for the Core i5-3475S. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 705 vs 1,563, a 75.7% lead for the Celeron G6900E that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 1,544 vs 2,631 (52.1% advantage for the Celeron G6900E). L3 cache: 6 MB (total) on the Core i5-3475S vs 4 MB (total) on the Celeron G6900E.

The Core i5-3475S uses the LGA1155 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Celeron G6900E uses LGA1700 (PCIe 5.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR3-1600 on the Core i5-3475S versus DDR5-4800 on the Celeron G6900E — the Celeron G6900E supports 50% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Celeron G6900E supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 32 GB — 120% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i5-3475S) vs 20 (Celeron G6900E) — the Celeron G6900E offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: H61,B75,H77,Z75,Z77 (Core i5-3475S) and H610,B660,H670,Z690,B760,H770,Z790 (Celeron G6900E).

Neither processor supports overclocking. Virtualization support: VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i5-3475S) vs VT-x (Celeron G6900E). Both include integrated graphics — HD Graphics 4000 (Core i5-3475S) and UHD Graphics 710 (Celeron G6900E) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i5-3475S targets Budget, Celeron G6900E targets Budget. Direct competitor: Core i5-3475S rivals FX-6300; Celeron G6900E rivals Pentium Gold G7400.

The Core i5-3475S launched at $249 MSRP, while the Celeron G6900E debuted at $53. At current prices ($42 vs $53), the Core i5-3475S is $11 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i5-3475S delivers 102.7 pts/$ vs 80.6 pts/$ for the Celeron G6900E — making the Core i5-3475S the 24.1% better value option.