Question N4020 vs N4120 vs AMD A4-9120e

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TheFlash1300

TheFlash1300

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Mar 15, 2022
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Hello. I want to buy two new laptops for basic use (LibreOffice, web browsing, downloading, making archives, using Camtasia Studio, etc...). I got a list of different laptops, and all of them have one CPU, which is one of the following three:

  1. Intel Celeron N4020
  2. Intel Celeron N4120
  3. AMD A4-9120e

I want to ask, which one of those 3 CPUs is the most powerful?
And the second question, which CPU is more powerful, N4020 or N4120

Can any of the CPUs be overlocked and/or made to exceed their base speed? For example, my current CPU is AMD A4-9120e. Its base speed is 1.50GHz, but in the Performance tab of Task Manager, i can see the speed can go even above 2.50GHz. Can the two Intel CPUs do the same, and increase their base speed?

Last question: Are the two Intel CPUs compatible with Windows 10 and 11?
 
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They are all extremely low powered. The Intel N series is based upon Atom series I believe these are Gemini Lake so they have Out of Order Execution.

N4120 is more powerful of the Intel ones.
A4-9120e is likely slightly more powerful, but it will EAT power. For LibreOffice it's not worth it.

Ignore clock speed. It's not an apple to apples comparison with AMD and Intel chips.

With laptops you won't be able to overclock. But again, for libreoffice, a SSD will make a bigger impact than overclocking.

No the AMD AND Intel chips are NOT compatible with 10/11 because they don't meet minimum requirements. MS USED to support windows 10 for these lower powered processors, but Microsoft dropped support a couple years back. So you would be stuck with an insecure older windows 10 install (IF YOU CAN FIND IT)
 
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TheFlash1300 said:
Currently, i run Windows 10 with AMD A4-9120e. How can this CPU run Windows 10, if it's not compatible with Windows 10?
Click to expand...

Some point down the line Windows dropped official support for it. I suspect you are not running all the latest features or patches. I would guess you are stuck at the 20H2 seasonal release update. Security patches for that just ended this past May. In other words, there was initial support, but seasonal releases were limited after the fact to newer processors. You were just getting security updates for your release, which just ended.

Microsoft also stated NO windows 11 support for anything pre 2000 series ryzen, or 3200g/3400g series APU. I think it's 8000 core series for Intel is the minimum. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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digitalgriffin said:
Some point down the line Windows dropped official support for it. I suspect you are not running all the latest features or patches. I would guess you are stuck at the 20H2 seasonal release update. Security patches for that just ended this past May. In other words, there was initial support, but seasonal releases were limited after the fact to newer processors. You were just getting security updates for your release, which just ended.

Microsoft also stated NO windows 11 support for anything pre 2000 series ryzen, or 3200g/3400g series APU. I think it's 8000 core series for Intel is the minimum. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
The Z8350 in my Asus Transfomer is not even listed on the 21H1 compatibility list.
Yet it is happily running 21H2. Updated on Jan 11 2022.
 
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digitalgriffin said:
Some point down the line Windows dropped official support for it. I suspect you are not running all the latest features or patches. I would guess you are stuck at the 20H2 seasonal release update. Security patches for that just ended this past May. In other words, there was initial support, but seasonal releases were limited after the fact to newer processors. You were just getting security updates for your release, which just ended.

Microsoft also stated NO windows 11 support for anything pre 2000 series ryzen, or 3200g/3400g series APU. I think it's 8000 core series for Intel is the minimum. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

This is what i have:

Edition - Windows 10 Pro
Version - 21H2
Installed on - 5/‎22/‎2022
OS build - 19044.1741
Experience - Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0

Isn't this the latest Windows 10 release, or are there newer releases that aren't available to me? As far as i know, i have the latest version, and a newer update/version will be available later this year. Am i wrong?

Look at this: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

It says my version is still supported.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...rted/windows-10-21h2-supported-amd-processors

Here it doesnt mention AMD A4-9120e. However, Windows 10 21H2 is still installed on my CPU. How is this possible, if the CPU is not supported?
 
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TheFlash1300 said:
This is what i have:

Edition - Windows 10 Pro
Version - 21H2
Installed on - 5/‎22/‎2022
OS build - 19044.1741
Experience - Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0

Isn't this the latest Windows 10 release, or are there newer releases that aren't available to me? As far as i know, i have the latest version, and a newer update/version will be available later this year. Am i wrong?

Look at this: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

It says my version is still supported.
Click to expand...

MS official Mantra was seasonable updates were NOT to be installed on older architectures. because they aren't going to test them in the lab anymore. I guess they rescinded that decision. But your current processor is NOT on the supported processor list. This means if you have an issue MS is just going to shrug their shoulders.
 
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TheFlash1300 said:
They have a different amount of GHz. One of them must be more powerful than the other. I'm interested to learn which one is most powerful, even if it's just slightly more powerful.
Click to expand...

rubs head P4 could run at 2GHz but it was significantly slower than Athlon X2 at 1.3GHz, and PIII at 1.5Ghz. You can't compare MHz. And it's based on instruction set support. For example, these Gemini Lake processors are designed to be super low power, therefore, they don't support very many matrix operations which are crucial to graphics processing.
 
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TheFlash1300 said:
They have a different amount of GHz. One of them must be more powerful than the other. I'm interested to learn which one is most powerful, even if it's just slightly more powerful.
Click to expand...
GHz is by far not the only or main determinant of performance.

We've had 4+GHz CPUs for over 15 years.
Pentium IV vs 12th gen i7.
Similar GHz, much much more performance.

The N4120 has 4 cores vs 2 on the N4020.
Get that one.

But why buying a 3 year old low power laptop?
 
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digitalgriffin said:
MS official Mantra was seasonable updates were NOT to be installed on older architectures. because they aren't going to test them in the lab anymore. I guess they rescinded that decision. But your current processor is NOT on the supported processor list. This means if you have an issue MS is just going to shrug their shoulders.
Click to expand...
If they don't want to help me, why do they force the update on me? If a problem happens, they should be guilty, because updates are forced, not optional.
 
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USAFRet said:
GHz is by far not the only or main determinant of performance.

We've had 4+GHz CPUs for over 15 years.
Pentium IV vs 12th gen i7.
Similar GHz, much much more performance.

The N4120 has 4 cores vs 2 on the N4020.
Get that one.

But why buying a 3 year old low power laptop?
Click to expand...
So, the N4120 is better than both N4020 and AMD-A4 9120e?

Why would i buy a 3-year-old low-power laptop? Well, i need a device for low-end tasks that don't require great processing power, but just basic processing power.
 
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