Intel Pentium B980  vs 2020M 

Today's road warrior is in search of a cheap yet reliable laptop: one which is capable of basic tasks like browsing the web or drafting office documents, and yet easy on the wallet at the same time. For this match up, we're comparing two processors which fit the bill: the Intel Pentium B980 versus the Intel Pentium 2020M.

The B980 and 2020M are similar in more ways than one. They’re specifically aimed at the budget, entry level market. Both are dual core CPUs with 2.4 GHz clock speed and 2MB of cache. Interestingly enough, even the power consumption of 35W TDP is the same. The only real difference lies in the manufacturing process; the 2020M is newer by 5 months, and is based on the Ivy Bridge architecture (as compared to the older Sandy Bridge B980). In terms of real world performance, which processor performs better?

Benchmarks show that the newer 2020M comes out on top, with a 14% performance increase in the PassMark test and a 10% increase in the Single Core benchmark. Seeing as the two chips are priced within the same range, it’s clear who the winner is in this match up: for the budget entry level segment, choose the newer Intel Pentium 2020M over the Intel Pentium B980.