i3-3120ME vs Pentium B960

Primary details

Comparing Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	2772	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Pentium	no data
Power efficiency	1.67	no data
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)
Release date	3 October 2011 (13 years ago)	1 August 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$134	no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME 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	2	4
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.2 GHz	2.4 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	22	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	2 MB (shared)	3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm
Die size	131 mm2	118 mm2
Maximum core temperature	85 °C	no data
Number of transistors	504 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME 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 (Uniprocessor)	1
Socket	FCPGA988,PGA988	Intel BGA1023
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	no data
FMA	+	-
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
My WiFi	-	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	no data
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME are enumerated here.

VT-d	-	no data
VT-x	-	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	unknown Dual-channel
Maximum memory size	16 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors	Intel HD 4000
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	no data

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	3 October 2011	1 August 2012
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	32 nm	22 nm

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Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium B960 and Core i3-3120ME, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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