Pentium B980 vs i3-7020U

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i3-7020U
2018
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
1.63
+140%
Pentium B980
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.68

Core i3-7020U outperforms Pentium B980 by a whopping 140% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking20932732
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i3Intel Pentium
Power efficiency10.291.84
Architecture codenameKaby Lake (2016−2019)Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date10 April 2018 (6 years ago)1 September 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$281$125

Detailed specifications

Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 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 speed2.3 GHz2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed2.3 GHz2.4 GHz
Bus typeOPIDMI 2.0
Bus rate4 GT/s4 × 5 GT/s
Multiplier2324
L1 cache128 KB64K (per core)
L2 cache512 KB256K (per core)
L3 cache3 MB2 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm32 nm
Die sizeno data131 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C85 °C
Number of transistorsno data504 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCBGA1356,FC-BGA1356,FPBGA1356FCPGA988,PGA988
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI+-
FMA-+
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift+no data
My WiFi+-
Turbo Boost Technology--
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Smart Response+no data
Demand Based Switchingno data-
FDIno data+
Fast Memory Accessno data+

Security technologies

Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Secure Key+no data
MPX+-
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data
Anti-Theftno data-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR3
Maximum memory size32 GB16 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/s21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 620Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors
Max video memory32 GBno data
Quick Sync Video+-
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD+-
Graphics max frequency1 GHz1.15 GHz
InTru 3D+-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported32
eDP++
DisplayPort++
HDMI++
DVI+no data
SDVOno data+
CRTno data+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hzno data
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hzno data
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hzno data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.5no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes1216

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.

i3-7020U 1.63
+140%
Pentium B980 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.

i3-7020U 2583
+137%
Pentium B980 1088

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.

i3-7020U 735
+98.1%
Pentium B980 371

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.

i3-7020U 1489
+134%
Pentium B980 637

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.

i3-7020U 3588
+15.4%
Pentium B980 3109

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.

i3-7020U 8083
+37.5%
Pentium B980 5879

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.

i3-7020U 1.4
+678%
Pentium B980 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.

i3-7020U 1920
+33.8%
Pentium B980 1435

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.  

i3-7020U 16
+55.8%
Pentium B980 10

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.  

i3-7020U 80
+45.5%
Pentium B980 55

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.63 0.68
Integrated graphics card 2.43 0.77
Recency 10 April 2018 1 September 2012
Threads 4 2
Chip lithography 14 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 35 Watt

i3-7020U has a 139.7% higher aggregate performance score, 215.6% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 5 years, 100% more threads, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 133.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-7020U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium B980 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-7020U and Pentium B980, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i3-7020U
Core i3-7020U
Intel Pentium B980
Pentium B980

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.4 1280 votes

Rate Core i3-7020U on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.4 198 votes

Rate Pentium B980 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i3-7020U or Pentium B980, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.