Intel Core i3 3240 vs 2120 |
Released September, 2012
Intel Core i3 3240
- 3.4 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i3 3240
 | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm | | More number of displays supported 3 |
| | Newer Sep, 2012 | | Lower typical power consumption 44.69W |
VS
Released January, 2011
Intel Core i3 2120
- 3.3 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the 2120
| | Better turbo clock speed 1,100 MHz | | Higher GPU clock speed 850 MHz |
| | Significantly higher Maximum operating temperature 69.1 °C |
by Legit Reviews (Jul, 2011)So far we have seen that the Core i3-2120 is about 6-7% faster than the Core i3-2105 and that makes sense as the clock speed difference between the two processors is 200MHz or 6.5.
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
VS
Intel Core i3 3240CPUBoss Winner |  | |
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much newer manufacturing process | 22 nm | vs | 32 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More number of displays supported | 3 | vs | 2 | 1 more number of displays supported | |||
| Newer | Sep, 2012 | vs | Jan, 2011 | Release date over 1 years later | |||
| Lower typical power consumption | 44.69W | vs | 52.81W | More than 15% lower typical power consumption | |||
| Better PassMark (Single core) score | 1,760 | vs | 1,679 | Around 5% better PassMark (Single core) score | |||
| Better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score | 5,507 | vs | 5,074 | Around 10% better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score | |||
| Lower annual home energy cost | 13.25 $/year | vs | 15.66 $/year | More than 15% lower annual home energy cost | |||
| Lower annual commercial energy cost | 48.18 $/year | vs | 56.94 $/year | More than 15% lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
| |||||||
| Better turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | vs | 1,050 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
| Higher GPU clock speed | 850 MHz | vs | 650 MHz | More than 30% higher GPU clock speed | |||
| Significantly higher Maximum operating temperature | 69.1 °C | vs | 65.3 °C | More than 5% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i3 3240 vs 2120
PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated Data courtesy FutureMark
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
GeekBench (32-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
GeekBench (64-bit) Data courtesy Primate Labs
PassMark Data courtesy Passmark
PassMark (Single Core)
Specifications Full list of technical specs
summary | Core i3 3240 | vs | 2120 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clock speed | 3.4 GHz | 3.3 GHz | |
| Cores | Dual core | Dual core | |
| Socket type | |||
| LGA 1155 | |||
| Is unlocked | No | No | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Supports trusted computing | No | No | |
| Has virtualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction set extensions | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| MMX | |||
| SSE4 | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| AES | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
power consumption | |||
| TDP | 55W | 65W | |
| Annual home energy cost | 13.25 $/year | 15.66 $/year | |
| Annual commercial energy cost | 48.18 $/year | 56.94 $/year | |
| Performance per watt | 3.42 pt/W | 3.27 pt/W | |
| Typical power consumption | 44.69W | 52.81W | |
bus | |||
| Architecture | DMI | DMI | |
| Number of links | 1 | 1 | |
| Transfer rate | 5,000 MT/s | 5,000 MT/s | |
details | Core i3 3240 | vs | 2120 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 | |
| Threads | 4 | 4 | |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 0.5 MB | |
| L2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | 0.25 MB/core | |
| L3 cache | 3 MB | 3 MB | |
| L3 cache per core | 1.5 MB/core | 1.5 MB/core | |
| Manufacture process | 22 nm | 32 nm | |
| Max CPUs | 1 | 1 | |
| Clock multiplier | 34 | 33 | |
| Operating temperature | Unknown - 65.3°C | Unknown - 69.1°C | |
overclocking | |||
| Overclock popularity | 1 | 22 | |
| Overclocked clock speed | 3.49 GHz | 3.44 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 3.57 GHz | 3.41 GHz | |
| PassMark (Overclocked) | 3,313.1 | 1,336.7 | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.49 GHz | 3.44 GHz | |
integrated graphics | |||
| GPU | GPU | GPU | |
| Label | Intel® HD Graphics 2500 | Intel® HD Graphics 2000 | |
| Number of displays supported | 3 | 2 | |
| GPU clock speed | 650 MHz | 850 MHz | |
| Turbo clock speed | 1,050 MHz | 1,100 MHz | |
memory controller | |||
| Memory controller | Built-in | Built-in | |
| Memory type | |||
| DDR3-1600 | |||
| DDR3-1333 | |||
| DDR3-1066 | |||
| DDR3 | |||
| Channels | Dual Channel | Dual Channel | |
| Maximum bandwidth | 25,600 MB/s | 21,333.32 MB/s | |
| Maximum memory size | 32,768 MB | 32,768 MB | |
 Intel Core i3 3240  Report a correction |  Intel Core i3 2120 Report a correction |
Desktops
Looking for a desktop?
- 2 desktops with the Intel Core i3 3240, starting from $450
- 3 desktops with the Intel Core i3 2120, starting from $1,017
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