Intel Core 3 N355 socket: BGA 1264

What the Core 3 N355 is

The Intel Core 3 N355 is the 15 W 8-core flagship of the Twin Lake N-series on BGA 1264. It runs 8 Gracemont threads at 1.9 GHz sustained with burst to 3.9 GHz, backed by 6 MB of Intel Smart Cache and a 15 W base power with 35 W maximum turbo power and a 9 W configurable floor. Intel launched Twin Lake in January 2025 as a faster Alder Lake-N refresh on Intel 7, with the N355 topping the stack.

Eight E-cores at a higher sustained clock suit premium Chromebooks, portable labs, digital signage players and mini PCs where responsiveness matters inside a small power budget. The 1.9 GHz sustained clock nearly doubles the N350 at the same 3.9 GHz burst, so heavy multitasking holds pace without reaching for a fan-cooled Core part. The 6 MB cache is shared across the cores.

Against the 7 W Intel Core 3 N350 below it, the N355 adds sustained frequency for busier multi-window work at a higher 15 W envelope. Against the 4-core Intel Processor N250 below it, the N355 doubles the cores. Intel Graphics with 32 execution units up to 1.35 GHz serve classroom and signage panels. See LGA, PGA and BGA: CPU package types explained for how soldered mobile packages differ from socketed desktops.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The N355 fits BGA 1264, a 1,264-ball soldered package measuring 35 × 24 mm shared with Amston Lake Atom parts. The chip is soldered once at the factory and stays with the board for life, so there is no retention lever and no aftermarket mounting choice. Cooling is part of the device design for the 15 W class with 35 W turbo headroom and a 105 degree junction limit, usually a compact active sink or large spreader.

Board choice means device choice. Memory is single-channel DDR4, DDR5 or LPDDR5 up to 4800 MT/s and 16 GB, fixed per design. A revision needs firmware that knows the Twin Lake stepping. Moving from any other package is a full board change with memory and thermal design replaced together.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

Memory on this platform is single-channel DDR4 to 3200 MT/s or DDR5 and LPDDR5 to 4800 MT/s for up to 16 GB. One channel keeps board routing simple and power low, which fits 8-thread browsing and office workloads. ECC is not part of this SKU, so lab designs that need error correction look elsewhere.

PCI Express connectivity is Gen 3 with x9 lanes. That lane budget suits NVMe boot storage plus wireless modules on a compact board rather than large arrays. Intel Graphics with 32 execution units up to 1.35 GHz and 4K60 support serve classroom and signage panels, with Quick Sync video for conferencing.

Cooling follows the device maker specification for the 15 W class with 35 W turbo headroom and a 9 W configurable floor for fanless profiles. No cooler ships with the tray mobile part. Firmware power limits scale the chip down in silent or battery modes, at some cost in sustained clocks.

Upgrade paths

On the same package, there is no larger Twin Lake part above the N355 in this batch, so growth on BGA 1264 means a thicker device with more cooling headroom or a step to a Core Ultra H laptop. The 7 W Intel Core 3 N350 beside it keeps the same cores at lower sustained clocks for fanless designs.

The step down to the 4-core Intel Processor N250 halves the cores for the lowest Twin Lake price. A move to LGA 1700 Bartlett Lake is a different socketed platform with far more performance for plugged-in desks. That change means a whole new system.