i3-8121U vs Pentium Silver N5000

VS

Aggregate performance score

Pentium Silver N5000
2017
4 cores / 4 threads, 6 Watt
1.60
Core i3-8121U
2018
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
2.87
+79.4%

Core i3-8121U outperforms Pentium Silver N5000 by an impressive 79% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking21161682
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel Pentium SilverIntel Core i3
Power efficiency24.3217.45
Architecture codenameGoldmont Plus (2017)Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019)
Release date11 December 2017 (6 years ago)15 May 2018 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$161no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads44
Base clock speed1.1 GHz2.2 GHz
Boost clock speed2.7 GHz3.2 GHz
Bus typeno dataOPI
Bus rateno data4 GT/s
Multiplier1122
L1 cache256 KB128 KB
L2 cache4 MB (shared)512 KB
L3 cache4 MB4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm10 nm
Die size93 mm2123 mm2
Maximum core temperature105 °C105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-

Compatibility

Information on Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U 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)
SocketFCBGA1090Intel BGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)6 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI++
AVX-+
vProno data-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
QuickAssistno data-
Speed Shift-+
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technology-2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Accessno data+
Smart Response-+
Demand Based Switchingno data-
GPIO+no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0-no data
HD Audiono data+
RSTno data+

Security technologies

Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data-
EDB++
Secure Key++
MPX++
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® ME-
OS Guard++
Anti-Theft-no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U are enumerated here.

VT-d++
VT-x++
VT-ino data-
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4
Maximum memory size8 GB32 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth38.397 GB/s38.397 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel UHD Graphics 605Iris Pro Plus
Max video memory8 GBno data
Quick Sync Video+-
Graphics max frequency750 MHzno data
Execution Units18no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported3no data
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
MIPI-DSI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX12no data
OpenGL4.4no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U.

PCIe version2.03.0
PCI Express lanes616
USB revision2.0/3.0no data
Total number of SATA ports2no data
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports2no data
Number of USB ports8no 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.

Pentium Silver N5000 1.60
i3-8121U 2.87
+79.4%

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.

Pentium Silver N5000 2442
i3-8121U 4391
+79.8%

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.

Pentium Silver N5000 346
i3-8121U 1165
+237%

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.

Pentium Silver N5000 858
i3-8121U 2367
+176%

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.

Pentium Silver N5000 3320
i3-8121U 4314
+29.9%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

Pentium Silver N5000 237
i3-8121U 318
+34.3%

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.

Pentium Silver N5000 78
i3-8121U 133
+70.5%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.60 2.87
Recency 11 December 2017 15 May 2018
Physical cores 4 2
Chip lithography 14 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 6 Watt 15 Watt

Pentium Silver N5000 has 100% more physical cores, and 150% lower power consumption.

i3-8121U, on the other hand, has a 79.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 months, and a 40% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i3-8121U is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium Silver N5000 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium Silver N5000 and Core i3-8121U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Pentium Silver N5000
Pentium Silver N5000
Intel Core i3-8121U
Core i3-8121U

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Community ratings

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