AMD PRO A10-9700E vs Intel Core i5-5350U Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data presents a sharply split picture between the AMD PRO A10-9700E and the Intel Core i5-5350U. Across seven benchmark tests, the AMD part claims five victories, while the Intel part takes two. However, the margins tell a more nuanced story than the raw win count.

In the Cinebench suite, the AMD PRO A10-9700E is consistently ahead. The multicore test in Cinebench R15 shows the AMD scoring 259 against Intel's 221, a 17.2% advantage. That pattern repeats in Cinebench R20 multicore, where AMD posts 1081 versus 923, a 17.1% lead. The single-core results in Cinebench R20 follow the same trajectory: AMD at 152, Intel at 130, for a 16.9% edge. Cinebench R23 reinforces the trend with AMD scoring 2574 multicore and 363 single-core, versus Intel's 2198 and 310, both representing 17.1% advantages. These are not marginal wins; the AMD part holds a roughly 17% lead across every Cinebench variant recorded.

The Geekbench results flip the script entirely. In Geekbench multicore, the Intel Core i5-5350U scores 1671 against AMD's 1430, a 14.4% deficit for the AMD part. The single-core gap is even more pronounced: Intel scores 868, AMD scores 577, giving Intel a 33.5% advantage. That is the largest delta in the entire head-to-head comparison, and it dwarfs any of AMD's Cinebench margins.

What does this split indicate? The Cinebench tests tend to stress sustained multi-threaded rendering workloads, where the AMD part's four physical cores and higher clock speeds appear to carry the day. The Geekbench suite, with its mix of integer, floating-point, and memory tests, favors the Intel architecture's efficiency per clock. The 33.5% single-core Geekbench gap suggests the Broadwell core has a substantial instructions-per-clock advantage, even at significantly lower clock speeds.

The average benchmark scores place the two parts close together overall: AMD at 919, Intel at 903. That 1.8% difference in the database's aggregate metric masks the bimodal distribution of results. The AMD part is clearly stronger in rendering-style workloads, while the Intel part is clearly stronger in the Geekbench tests. The percentile rankings reflect this near-parity: AMD sits at the 25th percentile of all CPUs, Intel at the 24th.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD PRO A10-9700E is the pick for applications that behave like Cinebench. Rendering, video encoding, and other workloads that scale with core count and sustained clock speed will see the AMD part's 17% advantage materialize in practice. Its four cores at 3.00 GHz base and 3.50 GHz boost provide a straightforward throughput advantage in these scenarios. The 35 W TDP, while higher than Intel's, is the price of that additional compute capacity in a desktop context.

The Intel Core i5-5350U wins decisively in Geekbench-style workloads. These include many everyday productivity tasks, web browsing, office applications, and single-threaded legacy software that benefits from higher instructions per clock. The 33.5% single-core Geekbench advantage is substantial enough that users running primarily single-threaded applications will notice the difference. The Intel part achieves this with only two physical cores and four threads, relying on its 14 nm Broadwell architecture and higher per-core efficiency.

Clock speed plays an interesting role here. The AMD part runs at 3.00 GHz base and 3.50 GHz boost, while the Intel part runs at a relatively pedestrian 1.80 GHz base and 2.90 GHz boost. Despite the clock deficit, Intel wins the Geekbench single-core test by a wide margin. This indicates that raw clock speed is not the determining factor in these tests; architectural efficiency matters more.

For mixed workloads, the database's aggregate scores suggest near-equivalence. The 919 versus 903 average is within noise, and the nearest rivals for each part confirm this positioning. The AMD part sits alongside the AMD Ryzen Embedded R1305G at a 0% delta and the AMD Athlon Silver 3050U at 0.2%. The Intel part sits alongside the Intel Core i7-940 at 0% and the Intel Core i5-4258U at 0.1%. Both parts occupy a similar performance tier in the broader CPU landscape.

The production status differs notably: the AMD part is listed as Active, while the Intel part is End-of-life. For system builders looking at current availability, that distinction may matter more than the benchmark deltas.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster in Cinebench R23 multicore?

A: The AMD PRO A10-9700E scores 2574 versus the Intel Core i5-5350U's 2198, a 17.1% advantage for AMD.

Q: How large is the Geekbench single-core gap?

A: The Intel Core i5-5350U scores 868 against the AMD PRO A10-9700E's 577, giving Intel a 33.5% lead. This is the largest delta recorded in the head-to-head comparison.

Q: Do the two CPUs have similar overall benchmark averages?

A: Yes. The AMD PRO A10-9700E has an average benchmark score of 919, while the Intel Core i5-5350U averages 903. The AMD part sits at the 25th percentile of all CPUs, Intel at the 24th.

Q: Which CPU has more physical cores?

A: The AMD PRO A10-9700E has four cores and four threads. The Intel Core i5-5350U has two cores and four threads, using Hyper-Threading to reach the same thread count.

Q: What memory types do the two CPUs support?

A: The AMD PRO A10-9700E supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration and 38.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel Core i5-5350U supports DDR3 memory with dual-channel configuration and 29.9 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Are both CPUs still in production?

A: No. The AMD PRO A10-9700E is listed as Active, while the Intel Core i5-5350U is listed as End-of-life.

Specification Differences

The two processors diverge on nearly every core specification. The AMD PRO A10-9700E offers four cores and four threads, while the Intel Core i5-5350U offers two cores and four threads. Base clocks are 3.00 GHz for AMD and 1.80 GHz for Intel. Boost clocks are 3.50 GHz for AMD and 2.90 GHz for Intel.

Thermal design power differs substantially: the AMD part is rated at 35 W, the Intel part at 15 W. This reflects their different market segments, with AMD targeting desktop systems and Intel targeting mobile platforms. The sockets are incompatible: AMD uses AMD Socket AM4, Intel uses Intel BGA 1168.

Memory support differs by generation. AMD supports DDR4 with 38.4 GB/s bandwidth, Intel supports DDR3 with 29.9 GB/s bandwidth. Both use dual-channel memory buses. Neither CPU supports ECC memory.

PCIe capabilities also differ. The AMD part provides PCIe Gen 3 with 8 lanes (CPU only), while the Intel part provides PCIe Gen 2 with 12 lanes (CPU only). The integrated graphics differ as well: AMD includes Radeon R7 graphics, Intel includes Intel HD 6000 graphics.

The Intel part has a recorded launch MSRP of $315. The AMD part has no recorded launch MSRP in the database.

Architecture Differences

The AMD PRO A10-9700E is built on the Excavator architecture, codenamed Bristol Ridge, using a 28 nm process from GlobalFoundries. The die contains 3,100 million transistors on a 250 mm² die. Cache is organized as 320 KB of L1 and 2 MB of L2, with no L3 cache present.

The Intel Core i5-5350U is built on the Broadwell architecture, codenamed Broadwell-U, using a 14 nm process from Intel. The die contains 1,900 million transistors on a 133 mm² die. Cache is organized as 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 3 MB of shared L3 cache.

The process node difference is significant: 28 nm for AMD versus 14 nm for Intel. This explains the transistor density disparity. Intel packs fewer total transistors into a much smaller die, 133 mm² versus 250 mm², while also operating at a lower 15 W TDP. The presence of L3 cache on the Intel part, 3 MB shared, versus none on the AMD part, is another architectural differentiator.

The release dates are roughly a year and a half apart, with Intel launching on 2015-02-28 and AMD on 2016-10-02. The Intel part is from the Core i5 generation for Broadwell-U, while the AMD part is from the A10 generation for Bristol Ridge. Both CPUs have locked multipliers, so neither supports user overclocking.

The foundry split is notable: GlobalFoundries for AMD, Intel for Intel. The memory bandwidth difference, 38.4 GB/s versus 29.9 GB/s, favors AMD and aligns with its newer DDR4 support. The Intel part's smaller die and newer process node likely contribute to its efficiency advantages in the Geekbench single-core test, while AMD's larger, older design still manages to win the Cinebench suite through raw core count and clock speed.