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 more l2 cache 1 MB | | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm |
| | Much more l2 cache per core 0.5 MB/core | | More number of displays supported 3 |
VS
Released January, 2011
Intel Core i3 2120
- 3.3 GHz
- Dual core
Reasons to buy the 2120
| | Much better turbo clock speed 1,100 MHz | | Significantly higher Maximum operating temperature 69.1 °C |
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Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Much more l2 cache | 1 MB | vs | 0.5 MB | 2x more l2 cache; more data can be stored in the l2 cache for quick access later | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Much newer manufacturing process | 22 nm | vs | 32 nm | A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor | |||
| Much more l2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | vs | 0.25 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| More number of displays supported | 3 | vs | 2 | 1 more number of displays supported | |||
| Higher clock speed | 3.4 GHz | vs | 3.3 GHz | Around 5% higher clock speed | |||
| Lower typical power consumption | 44.69W | vs | 52.81W | More than 15% lower typical power consumption | |||
| Better overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.5 GHz | vs | 3.42 GHz | Almost the same | |||
| Newer | Sep, 2012 | vs | Jan, 2011 | Release date over 1 years later | |||
| 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 overclocked clock speed (Water) | 3.5 GHz | vs | 3.37 GHz | Around 5% better overclocked clock speed (Water) | |||
| |||||||
| Much better turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | vs | 1,050 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
| Significantly higher Maximum operating temperature | 69.1 °C | vs | 65.3 °C | More than 5% higher Maximum operating temperature | |||
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Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i3 3240 vs 2120
CompuBench 1.5 (Face detection)
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
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 | 2.67 pt/W | 2.79 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 | 3.5 GHz | 3.42 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 3.5 GHz | 3.37 GHz | |
| PassMark (Overclocked) | 3,313.1 | 1,336.7 | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.5 GHz | 3.42 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 |
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- 1 desktop with the Intel Core i3 3240, starting from $274
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