Celeron 3215U vs i3-2120

Place in the ranking	2322	2737
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.14	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Celeron
Power efficiency	1.79	4.29
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Broadwell (2015−2019)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	1 June 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$95	$107

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U 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)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	2
Base clock speed	3.3 GHz	1.7 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	1.7 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	5 GT/s
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	2 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Die size	131 mm²	82 mm²
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	504 million	1300 Million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U 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	1
Socket	FCLGA1155	FCBGA1168
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	+
Smart Response	no data	-
FDI	+	+
Fast Memory Access	+	+

Security technologies

Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Identity Protection	+	+
OS Guard	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U are enumerated here.

AMD-V	-	+
VT-d	-	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	16 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 2000	Intel HD Graphics for 5th Generation Intel Processors
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	no data	+
Clear Video HD	+	-
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	850 MHz
InTru 3D	+	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	3
eDP	no data	+
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX

no data

11.2/12

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	12

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 1.23
+80.9%

Celeron 3215U 0.68

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
+80.6%

Celeron 3215U 1083

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 497
+49.7%

Celeron 3215U 332

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
+73.5%

Celeron 3215U 589

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.23	0.68
Integrated graphics card	0.55	0.77
Recency	20 February 2011	1 June 2015
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	15 Watt

i3-2120 has a 80.9% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.

Celeron 3215U, on the other hand, has 40% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 4 years, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 333.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-2120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron 3215U in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-2120 is a desktop processor while Celeron 3215U is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2120 and Celeron 3215U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.