Pentium Silver N5030 vs Core i3-8121U
Aggregate performance score
i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by an impressive 71% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 1602 | 1982 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | Intel Core i3 | Intel Gemini Lake |
| Architecture codename | Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019) | Gemini Lake Refresh (2019) |
| Release date | 5 May 2018 (6 years ago) | 4 November 2019 (4 years ago) |
| Current price | $828 | no data |
Detailed specifications
Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 1.1 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 3.1 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | no data |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 4 MB |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 4 MB |
| Chip lithography | 10 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 123 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 °C | 105 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 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 | Intel BGA1440 | FCBGA1090 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 6 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030. 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 | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | no data |
| vPro | - | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| QuickAssist | - | no data |
| Speed Shift | + | - |
| My WiFi | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| TSX | - | no data |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| SIPP | - | no data |
| Smart Response | + | - |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| GPIO | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
| Status | Launched | Discontinued |
| HD Audio | + | no data |
| RST | + | no data |
Security technologies
Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | no data |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | + | + |
| MPX | + | + |
| Identity Protection | no data | + |
| SGX | - | Yes with Intel® ME |
| OS Guard | + | + |
| Anti-Theft | no data | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| VT-i | - | no data |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | 8 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 37.5 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | - | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Iris Pro Plus | Intel UHD Graphics 605 |
| Max video memory | no data | 8 GB |
| Quick Sync Video | no data | + |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 750 MHz |
| Execution Units | no data | 18 |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 3 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | no data | + |
| HDMI | no data | + |
| MIPI-DSI | no data | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | no data | + |
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | no data | 4096x2160@30Hz |
| Max resolution over eDP | no data | 4096x2160@60Hz |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | no data | 4096x2160@60Hz |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | no data | 12 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.4 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 6 |
| USB revision | no data | 2.0/3.0 |
| Total number of SATA ports | no data | 2 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | no data | 2 |
| Number of USB ports | no data | 8 |
| 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.
Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by 71% 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%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by 71% 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 Pentium Silver N5030 by 212% 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 Pentium Silver N5030 by 186% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 19%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by 11% in 3DMark06 CPU.
Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.
Benchmark coverage: 15%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by 41% in Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 14%
Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5030 by 64% in Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.84 | 1.66 |
| Recency | 5 May 2018 | 4 November 2019 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 10 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 6 Watt |
The Core i3-8121U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium Silver N5030 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-8121U and Pentium Silver N5030, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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