Intel Core i3-1115GRE vs Intel Xeon D-1518 Comparison

The Intel Core i3-1115GRE and Intel Xeon D-1518 present a fascinating study in how far mobile and server architectures have diverged, yet their benchmark scores tell a story of remarkable parity. Despite being separated by five years of silicon evolution, a 2-core Tiger Lake-U part and a 4-core Broadwell-DE part land within a whisper of each other on every single Cinebench test. The data shows the i3-1115GRE takes all six head-to-head wins, but the margins are so thin that they invite deeper questioning about what these scores actually mean for real-world workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking pattern in the head-to-head results is not the winner, but the sheer consistency of the margins. In Cinebench R15 multicore, the i3-1115GRE scores 392 against the Xeon D-1518’s 390, a delta of just 0.5%. That gap widens slightly in single-core R15, where 55 versus 54 represents a 1.9% advantage for the Tiger Lake chip. Moving to R20, the multicore delta shrinks to 0.6% (1637 vs 1628), while single-core shows 231 versus 229 for a 0.9% edge.

R23 continues the trend with the i3-1115GRE posting 3899 multicore against 3877, another 0.6% margin, and 550 single-core versus 547 for a 0.5% lead. The average benchmark score reinforces this near-equality: the i3-1115GRE sits at 1127, while the Xeon D-1518 trails at 1121, a difference of roughly half a percent. Both processors occupy the 32nd percentile among all CPUs, meaning they slot into the same performance tier despite their architectural differences.

What makes these numbers curious is the core count disparity. The Xeon D-1518 fields twice the cores and threads (4C/8T versus 2C/4T), yet cannot convert that hardware advantage into a multicore victory. The i3-1115GRE wins multicore tests by 0.5-0.6% consistently, suggesting its newer architecture more than compensates for missing physical cores. Meanwhile, the single-core deltas of 0.5-1.9% are even narrower, indicating that raw IPC gains from Tiger Lake’s 10nm process are almost entirely neutralized by the older Broadwell design’s efficiency.

Architecture Differences

The two chips could hardly be more different under the hood. The i3-1115GRE uses Intel’s Tiger Lake architecture on a 10nm process, built on the Willow Cove-U core design, while the Xeon D-1518 relies on the older Broadwell architecture at 14nm. This process gap explains why the i3-1115GRE achieves comparable performance with half the cores — each Willow Cove core is doing significantly more work per clock than a Broadwell core.

Cache hierarchies diverge sharply. The i3-1115GRE packs 80 KB of L1 per core and 1.25 MB of L2 per core, with 6 MB of shared L3. The Xeon D-1518 counters with smaller per-core L1 (64 KB) and L2 (256 KB), but offers 1.5 MB of L3 per core, which across four cores totals more aggregate L3 than the i3’s shared pool. This cache distribution suggests the Xeon was designed for throughput-oriented workloads with predictable access patterns, while the i3’s larger per-core L2 favors latency-sensitive single-threaded tasks.

The die sizes tell a physical story: the Xeon D-1518 measures 246 mm² with 3,200 million transistors, versus the i3-1115GRE’s 144 mm². The Xeon’s larger die accommodates four cores and a server-class I/O array, including 24 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, while the i3-1115GRE offers just 4 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. Both support ECC memory, but the i3-1115GRE uses DDR4/LPDDR4X while the Xeon D-1518 accepts DDR3 and DDR4. The i3-1115GRE includes integrated UHD Graphics G4 with 48 execution units; the Xeon D-1518 has no integrated graphics whatsoever.

Where Each One Wins

Given the benchmark results, the i3-1115GRE wins every measured test, but the real-world implications require interpretation. The i3-1115GRE’s six wins, however marginal, make it the pick for any workload where Cinebench scores correlate with performance — which typically includes content creation, rendering, and general productivity. Its integrated graphics also give it a decisive advantage in any system that cannot accommodate a discrete GPU, since the Xeon D-1518 requires external graphics hardware.

The Xeon D-1518’s strengths lie outside the Cinebench suite. Its 24 PCIe Gen 3 lanes versus the i3’s 4 Gen 4 lanes means dramatically more expansion capability, making it suited for storage servers, network appliances, or virtualized environments where I/O bandwidth matters more than raw CPU throughput. The 4-core/8-thread configuration also provides better parallel scheduling headroom for server workloads like container orchestration or database query handling, even if Cinebench doesn’t reflect that advantage.

The i3-1115GRE’s 15W TDP versus the Xeon’s 35W TDP is a massive efficiency gap. For battery-powered or thermally constrained mobile devices, the i3-1115GRE is the only rational choice. The Xeon D-1518 targets always-plugged-in rack environments where power draw is secondary to reliability and I/O flexibility. The i3-1115GRE’s release date of September 2020 versus March 2015 for the Xeon also means the i3 benefits from five additional years of microarchitectural improvements, including better branch prediction and memory latency handling.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has higher single-core performance?

A: The Intel Core i3-1115GRE wins all three single-core Cinebench tests. It scores 55 in R15 versus 54, 231 in R20 versus 229, and 550 in R23 versus 547, with deltas ranging from 0.5% to 1.9%.

Q: Does the Xeon D-1518’s extra cores ever help in Cinebench?

A: No. Despite having 4 cores and 8 threads versus the i3-1115GRE’s 2 cores and 4 threads, the Xeon D-1518 loses every multicore test by 0.5-0.6%. The i3-1115GRE’s newer architecture fully offsets the core count disadvantage.

Q: Can both processors use ECC memory?

A: Yes, both the Intel Core i3-1115GRE and the Intel Xeon D-1518 support ECC memory. However, the i3-1115GRE supports DDR4 and LPDDR4X, while the Xeon D-1518 supports both DDR3 and DDR4.

Q: What is the TDP difference between these chips?

A: The i3-1115GRE has a TDP of 15W, while the Xeon D-1518 has a TDP of 35W. This represents a significant thermal and power consumption gap that favors the i3-1115GRE for mobile or low-power applications.

Q: Which processor has more PCIe lanes?

A: The Xeon D-1518 offers 24 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, while the i3-1115GRE provides only 4 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. Despite the newer Gen 4 standard on the i3, the Xeon’s lane count is six times higher for expansion purposes.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The i3-1115GRE has an average benchmark score of 1127, while the Xeon D-1518 scores 1121. Both sit at the 32nd percentile among all CPUs, indicating essentially identical overall performance.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Core i3-1115GRE outperforms the Intel Xeon D-1518 in every single Cinebench test, from R15 through R23, in both single-core and multicore workloads. The maximum delta is just 1.9%, but a win is a win, and the i3-1115GRE claims all six head-to-head matchups. For anyone choosing purely on compute performance, the i3-1115GRE is the better processor.

However, the verdict must account for context. The Xeon D-1518’s 24 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, 4-core/8-thread design, and server-class positioning make it the appropriate choice for I/O-heavy infrastructure roles where Cinebench scores are irrelevant. The i3-1115GRE’s integrated graphics, 15W TDP, and mobile socket (BGA 1449 versus BGA 1667) restrict it to laptop or compact embedded designs, while the Xeon D-1518 belongs in rack servers where its 35W TDP is acceptable.

The i3-1115GRE also benefits from a 2020 release date and a 10nm process, versus the Xeon’s 2015 launch on 14nm. For general-purpose computing — web browsing, office work, light rendering — the i3-1115GRE is the clear winner. For network attached storage, virtualization hosts, or any workload needing many PCIe devices, the Xeon D-1518’s platform features outweigh its slight benchmark deficit. The data suggests choosing the i3-1115GRE for compute and the Xeon D-1518 for connectivity, with no scenario where the Xeon wins on raw speed.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Core i3-1115GRE | Intel Xeon D-1518 |

|---|---|---|

| Cores | 2 | 4 |

| Threads | 4 | 8 |

| Base Clock | 2.20 GHz | 2.20 GHz |

| Boost Clock | 3.90 GHz | None |

| TDP | 15W | 35W |

| Socket | Intel BGA 1449 | Intel BGA 1667 |

| Architecture | Tiger Lake | Broadwell |

| Codename | Tiger Lake-U | Broadwell |

| Process Node | 10 nm | 14 nm |

| Die Size | 144 mm² | 246 mm² |

| Transistors | Not specified | 3,200 million |

| L1 Cache | 80 KB (per core) | 64 KB (per core) |

| L2 Cache | 1.25 MB (per core) | 256 KB (per core) |

| L3 Cache | 6 MB (shared) | 1.5 MB (per core) |

| Memory Support | DDR4, LPDDR4X | DDR3, DDR4 |

| PCIe | Gen 4, 4 Lanes | Gen 3, 24 Lanes |

| Integrated Graphics | UHD Graphics G4 48EU | None |

| Market Segment | Mobile | Server/Workstation |

| Release Date | 2020-09-01 | 2015-03-08 |

| Launch MSRP | $338 | $193 |

| Part Number | SRK13 | SR2DN |