Pentium 2117U vs i3-4120U

Place in the ranking	2314	2753
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i3	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	7.76	3.56
Architecture codename	Haswell (2013−2015)	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date	14 April 2014 (10 years ago)	1 September 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$281	$134

Detailed specifications

Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U 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	2 GHz	1.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	2 GHz	1.8 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	5 GT/s
L1 cache	128 KB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	256K (per core)
L3 cache	3 MB	2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	22 nm
Die size	no data	118 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	105 °C
Number of transistors	no data	1,400 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U 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	FCBGA1168	FCBGA1023
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	17 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	-
AVX	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
GPIO	+	no data
Smart Connect	+	no data
FDI	-	+
Fast Memory Access	no data	+
AMT	9.5	no data
Matrix Storage	-	no data
HD Audio	+	no data
RST	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	-
Anti-Theft	+	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

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

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 4400	Intel HD Graphics for 3rd Generation Intel Processors
Max video memory	2 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	-
Graphics max frequency	1 GHz	1 GHz
InTru 3D	+	-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	3
eDP	+	+
DisplayPort	+	+
HDMI	+	+
SDVO	no data	+
CRT	no data	+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	3200x2000@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	3200x2000@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over VGA	N/A	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	11.2/12	no data
OpenGL	4.3	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	12	16
PCI support	-	no data
USB revision	3.0	no data
Total number of SATA ports	4	no data
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	4	no data
Integrated IDE	-	no data
Number of USB ports	4	no data
Integrated LAN	-	no data
UART	+	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.

i3-4120U 1.23
+92.2%

Pentium 2117U 0.64

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.

i3-4120U 1948
+90.6%

Pentium 2117U 1022

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.23	0.64
Integrated graphics card	1.35	0.77
Recency	14 April 2014	1 September 2012
Threads	4	2
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	17 Watt

i3-4120U has a 92.2% higher aggregate performance score, 75.3% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 1 year, 100% more threads, and 13.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-4120U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium 2117U in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-4120U and Pentium 2117U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.