Intel Core i3 3120M vs AMD Athlon II 170u |
Released September, 2012
Intel Core i3 3120M
- 2.5 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i3 3120M
 | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm | | Higher clock speed 2.5 GHz |
| | Significantly better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score 4,146 | | Significantly better PassMark (Single core) score 1,313 |
VS
First seen on June, 2012
AMD Athlon II 170u
- 2 GHz
- Single core
Reasons to buy the AMD Athlon II 170u
| | Much more l2 cache per core 1 MB/core | | Lower typical power consumption 16.25W |
| | Better overclocked clock speed (Air) 3.11 GHz | | Lower annual home energy cost 4.82 $/year |
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Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 22 nm | vs | 45 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher clock speed | 2.5 GHz | vs | 2 GHz | 25% higher clock speed | |||
| Significantly better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score | 4,146 | vs | 997 | Around 4.2x better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score | |||
| Significantly better PassMark (Single core) score | 1,313 | vs | 634 | More than 2x better PassMark (Single core) score | |||
| More threads | 4 | vs | 1 | 3 more threads | |||
| Higher Maximum operating temperature | 90 °C | vs | 80 °C | Around 15% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
| More cores | 2 | vs | 1 | Twice as many cores; run more applications at once | |||
| Slightly better performance per watt | 3.96 pt/W | vs | 3.3 pt/W | More than 20% better performance per watt | |||
| Better overclocked clock speed (Water) | 2.5 GHz | vs | 2 GHz | 25% better overclocked clock speed (Water) | |||
| |||||||
| Much more l2 cache per core | 1 MB/core | vs | 0.5 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| Lower typical power consumption | 16.25W | vs | 28.44W | Around 45% lower typical power consumption | |||
| Better overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.11 GHz | vs | 2.53 GHz | Around 25% better overclocked clock speed (Air) | |||
| Lower annual home energy cost | 4.82 $/year | vs | 8.43 $/year | Around 45% lower annual home energy cost | |||
| Lower annual commercial energy cost | 17.52 $/year | vs | 30.66 $/year | Around 45% lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
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Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i3 3120M vs Athlon II 170u
GeekBench 3 (Multi-core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (Single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench 3 (AES single core) Data courtesy Primate Labs
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
PassMark (Single Core)
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Core i3 3120M | vs | Athlon II 170u |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 2 GHz | |
| Cores | Dual core | Single core | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE4a | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| MMX | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| 3DNow! | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
details | Core i3 3120M | vs | Athlon II 170u |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threads | 4 | 1 | |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 1 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | 1 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 22 nm | 45 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
| Operating temperature | Unknown - 90°C | Unknown - 80°C | |
overclocking | |||
| Overclocked clock speed | 2.53 GHz | 3.11 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 2.5 GHz | 2 GHz | |
| PassMark (Overclocked) | 1,976.5 | 1,383.9 | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 2.53 GHz | 3.11 GHz | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 35W | 20W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 8.43 $/year | 4.82 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 30.66 $/year | 17.52 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 3.96 pt/W | 3.3 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 28.44W | 16.25W | |
 Intel Core i3 3120M  Report a correction |  AMD Athlon II 170u Report a correction |
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