Intel Celeron D 336 LGA775

The Celeron D 336 scores 572 on PassMark multi-core, landing in the 14th percentile and earning a 16 out of 100 overall. It's cheap at USD 30 and sits in the 94th percentile for affordability, but the 256KB L2 cache and 533MHz bus make it painfully slow for anything modern. Only worth it for keeping an old LGA775 system alive.

Let's talk about that 572 PassMark multi-core score. In our database, that's a weak spot, landing in the 14th percentile. For context, a modern budget chip like the Ryzen 5 5500 scores somewhere in the thousands, so we're not even in the same conversation. The single-thread story isn't much better at the 30th percentile, which means even basic tasks like web browsing will feel sluggish. The 2.8GHz clock and 533MHz front-side bus were fine for 2005, but modern software expects a lot more from a CPU.

The 256KB L2 cache is the real bottleneck. That's a quarter of a megabyte, which is less than what most modern chips use for a single core's L1 cache. Multitasking is going to be rough. Opening a browser tab, checking email, and playing a YouTube video at the same time will push this thing to its limits. And forget about anything AI-related. The 10.4 out of 100 score in that category is dead last territory, which makes sense because this chip predates the entire concept of on-device AI acceleration.

Stacked against the Ryzen 5 5500, this Celeron D 336 isn't even playing the same sport. The Ryzen has six cores, twelve threads, and a PassMark score that's roughly thirty times higher. The Intel Core i7 4790K, which is itself a decade old at this point, still crushes the Celeron in every category we measure. Even the Dell Xeon E5-2637 V2, a server chip from 2013, runs circles around it. The only competitor this thing beats is the NEKSKA Electric Garlic Chopper, which is a kitchen appliance and not a CPU, so that's not exactly a victory lap. If you need an LGA775 chip specifically, this is a fine stopgap, but any modern alternative at a similar price will be dramatically faster.

At USD 30 from Amazon, this chip is in the 94th percentile for affordability, and that's really the only reason to consider it. The EUR pricing is a bit of a mess though. Listings in Germany, France, and Italy range from EUR 54 to EUR 74, which is a spread of EUR 20 for the exact same processor. If you're in Europe and dead set on this chip, the EUR 54 listing is the obvious pick. The CAD 82 and GBP 82 listings are harder to justify, since you're paying more than double the US price for a CPU that scores 16 out of 100 overall. This is a case where the price per performance ratio only works if you find it at the absolute bottom of the range.

The Intel Celeron D 336 is a single-core relic from the mid-2000s, and the numbers tell the whole story. A PassMark multi-core score of 572 puts it in the 14th percentile of every CPU we track, which is a polite way of saying it gets lapped by budget chips from a decade ago. The 2.8GHz clock speed sounds respectable until you realize it's paired with 256KB of L2 cache and a 533MHz bus. This thing was entry-level when it launched, and time has not been kind.

But here's the thing: it's cheap. At USD 30 on Amazon, it sits in the 94th percentile for affordability, and if you're trying to keep an old LGA775 board alive for basic tasks, that's the whole pitch. Just don't expect it to do anything beyond the bare minimum. Our scoring gives it a 16 out of 100 overall, with gaming at 16.5 and budget use at 42.3. The AI and LLM score of 10.4 is one of the worst we've seen, which is almost charming in its honesty.

Anyone who needs to do actual work should skip this. The multi-thread score of 572 and the 14th percentile ranking mean even basic productivity will feel like wading through mud. If you're planning to game, the 16.5 gaming score is a clear warning sign. And if you're in Europe looking at the EUR 74 listing, absolutely skip it. That's more than double the US price for a chip that can't keep up with a Raspberry Pi. The only people who should buy this are those with a dead LGA775 system and no budget for a platform upgrade.

The Celeron D 336 is a nostalgia piece or an emergency replacement, nothing more. The 572 PassMark score and 14th percentile multi-thread ranking mean it can't handle modern workloads, and the 16 out of 100 total score reflects that. But if you have an old LGA775 board that just needs to boot and run a lightweight OS, the USD 30 price tag is hard to argue with. Just know that you're buying the absolute floor of CPU performance in 2024. For anything beyond basic document editing or a retro PC build, spend a little more and get something from this decade.