Athlon 3000G vs Core i3-8121U
Aggregate performance score
Athlon 3000G outperforms Core i3-8121U by a minimal 2% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 1601 | 1584 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 10.87 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop processor |
| Series | Intel Core i3 | AMD Athlon |
| Architecture codename | Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019) | Zen+ (2018−2020) |
| Release date | 5 May 2018 (6 years ago) | 21 November 2019 (4 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $49 |
| Current price | $828 | $110 (2.2x MSRP) |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G 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 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 96K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 512K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 4 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 10 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 123 mm2 | 209.78 mm2? |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | no data | 4,800 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | Yes |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G 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 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | Intel BGA1440 | AM4 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| PowerNow | no data | + |
| vPro | - | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| QuickAssist | - | no data |
| Speed Shift | + | no data |
| My WiFi | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| TSX | - | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | no data |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| SIPP | - | no data |
| Smart Response | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| Status | Launched | no data |
| HD Audio | + | no data |
| RST | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Secure Key | + | no data |
| MPX | + | no data |
| SGX | - | no data |
| OS Guard | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | no data | + |
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| VT-i | - | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR4 Dual-channel |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | 64 GB? |
| Max memory channels | 2 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 37.5 GB/s | 42.671 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Iris Pro Plus | AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 6 |
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.
Athlon 3000G outperforms Core i3-8121U by 2% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Athlon 3000G outperforms Core i3-8121U by 2% in Passmark.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Athlon 3000G by 19% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 42%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Athlon 3000G by 18% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.84 | 2.90 |
| Recency | 5 May 2018 | 21 November 2019 |
| Chip lithography | 10 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 35 Watt |
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G.
Be aware that Core i3-8121U is a notebook processor while Athlon 3000G is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-8121U and Athlon 3000G, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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