Pentium 3556U vs i3-3217U

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Aggregate performance score

Core i3-3217U
2012
2 cores / 4 threads, 17 Watt
0.77
+14.9%
Pentium 3556U
2013
2 cores / 2 threads, 15 Watt
0.67

Core i3-3217U outperforms Pentium 3556U by a moderate 15% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking26452749
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i3Intel Pentium
Power efficiency4.294.23
Architecture codenameIvy Bridge (2012−2013)Haswell (2013−2015)
Release date1 June 2012 (12 years ago)1 September 2013 (11 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$225no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads42
Base clock speed1.8 GHz1.7 GHz
Boost clock speed1.8 GHz1.7 GHz
Bus rate5 GT/s5 GT/s
L1 cache64K (per core)64K (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256K (per core)
L3 cache3 MB (shared)2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography22 nm22 nm
Die size118 mm2118 mm2
Maximum core temperature105 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data105 °C
Number of transistorsno data1,400 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U 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 configuration11
SocketFCBGA1023FCBGA1168
Power consumption (TDP)17 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® AVXIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFi+no data
Turbo Boost Technology--
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access+no data
Smart Responseno data-
Demand Based Switching-no data
GPIOno data+
Smart Connectno data+
FDI+-
Fast Memory Access+no data
AMTno data9.5
Matrix Storageno data-
HD Audiono data+
RSTno data+

Security technologies

Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
Identity Protection+-
OS Guardno data-
Anti-Theft+-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3/L/-RS 1333/1600DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GB16 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth25.6 GB/s25.6 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 4000Intel HD Graphics for 4th Generation Intel Processors
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Videono data+
Clear Video HD+-
Graphics max frequency1.05 GHz1 GHz
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported33
eDP++
DisplayPort++
HDMI++
SDVO+no data
CRT+no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes1610
PCI supportno data-
USB revisionno data3.0
Total number of SATA portsno data2
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Portsno data2
Integrated IDEno data-
Number of USB portsno data4
Integrated LANno data-
UARTno 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.

i3-3217U 0.77
+14.9%
Pentium 3556U 0.67

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.

i3-3217U 1226
+15.6%
Pentium 3556U 1061

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.

i3-3217U 293
Pentium 3556U 302
+3.1%

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.

i3-3217U 619
+25.6%
Pentium 3556U 493

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i3-3217U 2477
Pentium 3556U 2515
+1.6%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i3-3217U 5394
+11.1%
Pentium 3556U 4854

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i3-3217U 2229
+15%
Pentium 3556U 1939

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i3-3217U 30.76
+50.3%
Pentium 3556U 46.23

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i3-3217U 2
+24.5%
Pentium 3556U 1

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i3-3217U 152
+21.1%
Pentium 3556U 126

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i3-3217U 64
Pentium 3556U 66
+3.1%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i3-3217U 0.75
Pentium 3556U 0.75

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i3-3217U 0.2
+20%
Pentium 3556U 0.2

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i3-3217U 1867
+56.8%
Pentium 3556U 1190

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i3-3217U 10
+12.6%
Pentium 3556U 9

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i3-3217U 56
+14.2%
Pentium 3556U 49

Geekbench 2

i3-3217U 3741
+19.6%
Pentium 3556U 3129

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.77 0.67
Integrated graphics card 1.18 0.77
Recency 1 June 2012 1 September 2013
Threads 4 2
Power consumption (TDP) 17 Watt 15 Watt

i3-3217U has a 14.9% higher aggregate performance score, 53.2% faster integrated GPU, and 100% more threads.

Pentium 3556U, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year, and 13.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-3217U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium 3556U in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-3217U and Pentium 3556U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i3-3217U
Core i3-3217U
Intel Pentium 3556U
Pentium 3556U

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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