Winner
Intel Core i3 3240
CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i3 3240 based on its .
See full details Intel Core i3 3240 vs 2120 |
Released September, 2012
Intel Core i3 3240
- 3.4 GHz
- Dual core
7.4 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i3 3240
 | Newer manufacturing process 22 nms | | More number of displays supported 3 |
| | Slightly more l2 cache 1 MB | | Better PassMark (Overclocked) score 3,313.1 |
VS
Released January, 2011
Intel Core i3 2120
- 3.3 GHz
- Dual core
7.3 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the 2120
| | Higher GPU clock speed 850 MHz | | Higher Maximum Operating Temperature 69.1 °C |
| | Better turbo clock speed 1,100 MHz |
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.
CPUBoss Review Our evaluation of 3240 vs 2120
Performance | |
Benchmark performance using all cores | |
| Passmark and GeekBench (32-bit) | |
Single-core Performance | |
Individual core benchmark performance | |
| Passmark (Single Core) | |
Overclocking | |
How much speed can you get out of the processor? | |
| Passmark (Overclocked), Unlocked, Maximum Overclocked Clock Speed (Air) and 2 more | |
Value | |
Are you paying a premium for performance? | |
| Performance Per Dollar | |
CPUBoss Score | |
Performance, Single-core Performance, Overclocking and Value | |
 |
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
VS
Intel Core i3 3240CPUBoss Winner |  | |
Differences What are the advantages of each
| |||||||
| Newer manufacturing process | 22 nms | vs | 32 nms | 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 | |||
| Slightly 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 | |||
| Better PassMark (Overclocked) score | 3,313.1 | vs | 1,336.7 | Around 2.5x better PassMark (Overclocked) score | |||
| More l2 cache per core | 0.5 MB/core | vs | 0.25 MB/core | 2x more l2 cache per core | |||
| Slightly lower typical power consumption | 44.69W | vs | 52.81W | More than 15% lower typical power consumption | |||
| Marginally newer | Sep, 2012 | vs | Jan, 2011 | Release date over 1 years later | |||
| Better performance per watt | 11.56 pt/W | vs | 9.2 pt/W | More than 25% better performance per watt | |||
| Lower annual commercial energy cost | 48.18 $/year | vs | 56.94 $/year | More than 15% lower annual commercial energy cost | |||
| Slightly lower annual home energy cost | 13.25 $/year | vs | 15.66 $/year | More than 15% lower annual home energy cost | |||
| |||||||
| Higher GPU clock speed | 850 MHz | vs | 650 MHz | More than 30% higher GPU clock speed | |||
| Higher Maximum Operating Temperature | 69.1 °C | vs | 65.3 °C | More than 5% higher Maximum Operating Temperature | |||
| Better turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | vs | 1,050 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
Report a correction
Benchmarks Real world tests of Core i3 3240 vs 2120
GeekBench (32-bit)
GeekBench
3D Mark 11 (Physics)
Core i3 2120 | by Legit Reviews (Jul, 2011)Benchmark Results: Futuremark 3DMark Vantage is GPU weighted, so the winner of the overall score part of the benchmark and the processor with the highest GPU score was the AMD A8-3850 A-Series APU.
Passmark
Core i3 2120 | by Legit Reviews (Jul, 2011)Overclocking the GPU up to 1250MHz from 1100MHz helped boost our 3DMark score from 1087 3DMarks to 1301 3DMarks!
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 | |
| Is hyperthreaded | Yes | Yes | |
features | |||
| Has a NX bit | Yes | Yes | |
| Supports trusted computing | No | No | |
| Has vitualization support | Yes | Yes | |
| Instruction-set-extensions | |||
| MMX | |||
| SSE | |||
| SSE4.2 | |||
| AVX | |||
| SSE3 | |||
| SSE2 | |||
| Supplemental SSE3 | |||
| SSE4.1 | |||
| SSE4 | |||
| Supports dynamic frequency scaling | Yes | Yes | |
gpu | |||
| 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 | |||
| 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 | |
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 nms | 32 nms | |
| 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 | 3.52 GHz | 3.44 GHz | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Water) | 3.61 GHz | 3.5 GHz | |
| PassMark (Overclocked) | 3,313.1 | 1,336.7 | |
| Overclocked clock speed (Air) | 3.52 GHz | 3.44 GHz | |
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 | 11.56 pt/W | 9.2 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 | |
 Intel Core i3 3240  Report a correction |  Intel Core i3 2120 Report a correction |
Follow us
Compare
Related Comparisons
 | VS |  |
| $120 | $100 | |
| 3240 vs G3240 | ||
| | VS |  |
| $120 | $120 | |
| 3240 vs 6300 | ||
| | VS |  |
| $120 | $120 | |
| 3240 vs 4130 | ||
| | VS |  |
| $120 | $125 | |
| 3240 vs 4150 | ||
| | VS |  |
| $120 | $125 | |
| 3240 vs 3220 | ||
 | VS |  |
| $118 | ||
| 2120 vs 1200 | ||
| | VS | |
| $118 | $125 | |
| 2120 vs 3220 | ||
Popular Comparisons
 | VS |  |
| $313 | $329 | |
| 4770K vs 9590 | ||
| | VS |  |
| $313 | $340 | |
| 4770K vs 4790K | ||
| | VS |  |
| $313 | $195 | |
| 4770K vs 4790 | ||
 | VS |  |
| $378 | ||
| 5750M vs 4700MQ | ||
 | VS |  |
| $180 | $235 | |
| 8350 vs 4670K | ||
 | VS |  |
| $281 | $393 | |
| 4200U vs 4500U | ||
| | VS |  |
| $281 | $225 | |
| 4200U vs 4200M | ||
