A8-8600P vs i3-2120

Place in the ranking	2302	2111
Place by popularity	98	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.14	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	AMD Carrizo
Power efficiency	1.80	4.19
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Carrizo (2015−2018)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	3 June 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$95	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	2 (Dual-core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	4
Base clock speed	3.3 GHz	1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	3 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2048 KB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	no data
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Die size	131 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	90 °C
Number of transistors	504 million	3100 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	no data
Socket	FCLGA1155	FP4
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	12-35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	HSA 1.0
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	FMA4
AVX	-	AVX
FRTC	-	+
FreeSync	-	+
DualGraphics	-	+
TrueAudio	-	+
PowerNow	-	+
PowerGating	-	+
Out-of-band client management	-	+
VirusProtect	-	+
HSA	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P are enumerated here.

AMD-V	-	+
VT-d	-	no data
VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data
IOMMU 2.0	-	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3-2133
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 2000	AMD Radeon R6 Graphics
iGPU core count	no data	6
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Enduro	-	+
Switchable graphics	-	+
UVD	-	+
VCE	-	+
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	no data
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	DirectX® 12
Vulkan	-	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P.

PCIe version	2.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i3-2120 1.28

A8-8600P 1.61
+25.8%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i3-2120 1956

A8-8600P 2464
+26%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i3-2120 496
+37.8%

A8-8600P 360

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i3-2120 1022
+1.5%

A8-8600P 1007

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.28	1.61
Recency	20 February 2011	3 June 2015
Physical cores	2	4
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	12 Watt

A8-8600P has a 25.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, 100% more physical cores, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 441.7% lower power consumption.

The A8-8600P is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-2120 in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-2120 is a desktop processor while A8-8600P is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2120 and A8-8600P, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.