Intel Core i3 3240 vs 2120 |
Released September, 2012
Intel Core i3 3240
- 3.4 GHz
- Dual core
7.3 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the Intel Core i3 3240
 | Much newer manufacturing process 22 nm | | More number of displays supported 3 |
VS
Released January, 2011
Intel Core i3 2120
- 3.3 GHz
- Dual core
7.3 Out of 10
Reasons to buy the 2120
| | Much better turbo clock speed 1,100 MHz | | Much 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.
CPUBoss Review Our evaluation of 3240 vs 2120 among desktop CPUs (45 to 75W)
Performance | |
Benchmark performance using all cores | |
| PCMark 8 Home 3.0 Accelerated, PassMark and 1 more | |
Single-core Performance | |
Individual core benchmark performance | |
| PassMark (Single Core), Geekbench 3 Single Core and 1 more | |
Integrated Graphics | |
Integrated GPU performance for graphics | |
| Fire Strike | |
Integrated Graphics (OpenCL) | |
Integrated GPU performance for parallel computing | |
| CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 4 more | |
Performance per Watt | |
How efficiently does the processor use electricity? | |
| Fire Strike, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more | |
Value | |
Are you paying a premium for performance? | |
| Fire Strike, CompuBench 1.5 Bitcoin mining and 11 more | |
No winner declared
Too close to call
Cast your vote Do you agree or disagree with CPUBoss?
VS
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 | |||
| |||||||
| Much better turbo clock speed | 1,100 MHz | vs | 1,050 MHz | Around 5% better turbo clock speed | |||
| Much 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
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 | 3.39 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 |
Desktops
Looking for a desktop?
- 1 desktop with the Intel Core i3 3240, starting from $2,899
- 1 desktop with the Intel Core i3 2120, starting from $1,156
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