Core i3-8121U vs Phenom II X4 P960

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Athlon II P320 Athlon II P340 Athlon II P360 Phenom II X3 N830 Phenom II X4 N930 Phenom II X4 N970 Phenom II X4 P960 Turion II P520 Turion II P540 V120 V140 V160
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i3-8100B i3-8109U i3-8121U i3-8130U i3-8140U i3-8145U i5-8257U i5-8259U i5-8269U i5-8279U i7-8557U i7-8559U

Aggregate performance score

Phenom II X4 P960
2010
4 cores / 4 threads, 25 Watt
1.00
Core i3-8121U
2018
2 cores / 4 threads, 15 Watt
2.84
+184%

i3-8121U outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by a whopping 184% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Contents

Phenom II X4 P960 Phenom II X4 P960
i3-8121U i3-8121U

Primary details

Comparing Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking23681601
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Series4x AMD Phenom IIIntel Core i3
Architecture codenameChamplain (2010−2011)Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019)
Release date19 October 2010 (13 years ago)5 May 2018 (6 years ago)
Current priceno data$828

Detailed specifications

Phenom II X4 P960 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 speedno data2.2 GHz
Boost clock speed1.8 GHz3.2 GHz
Bus support3600 MHzno data
L1 cache512 KB64K (per core)
L2 cache2 MB256K (per core)
L3 cacheno data4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography45 nm10 nm
Die sizeno data123 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierNoNo

Compatibility

Information on Phenom II X4 P960 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 configurationno data1
SocketS1 (S1g4)Intel BGA1440
Power consumption (TDP)25 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsMMX, 3DNow, SSE (1,2,3,4A), AMD64, Enhanced Virus Protection, Virtualization, integrated DDR3-1066 memory controller, HyperTransport 3.0Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NIno data+
AVXno data+
VirusProtect+no data
vProno data-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
QuickAssistno data-
Speed Shiftno data+
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
TSXno data-
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data+
Flex Memory Accessno data+
SIPPno data-
Smart Responseno data+
Demand Based Switchingno data-
Statusno dataLaunched
HD Audiono data+
RSTno data+

Security technologies

Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data-
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
MPXno data+
SGXno data-
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U are enumerated here.

AMD-V+no data
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
VT-ino data-
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4
Maximum memory sizeno data32 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidthno data37.5 GB/s
ECC memory supportno data-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIris Pro Plus

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U.

PCIe versionno data3.0
PCI Express lanesno data16

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.

Phenom II X4 P960 1.00
i3-8121U 2.84
+184%

Core i3-8121U outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by 184% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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%

Phenom II X4 P960 232
i3-8121U 1136
+390%

Core i3-8121U outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by 390% 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%

Phenom II X4 P960 796
i3-8121U 2321
+192%

Core i3-8121U outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by 192% 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%

Phenom II X4 P960 2519
i3-8121U 4314
+71.3%

Core i3-8121U outperforms Phenom II X4 P960 by 71% in 3DMark06 CPU.

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score 1.00 2.84
Recency 19 October 2010 5 May 2018
Physical cores 4 2
Chip lithography 45 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 25 Watt 15 Watt

The Core i3-8121U is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X4 P960 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Phenom II X4 P960 and Core i3-8121U, 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.

AMD Phenom II X4 P960
Phenom II X4 P960
Intel Core i3-8121U
Core i3-8121U
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Turion 64 X2 TL-66 Turion 64 X2 TL-66
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V-Series V140 V Series V140
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i3-8121U Core i3 8121U

Community ratings

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

3.7 161 vote

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Rate Core i3-8121U on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Phenom II X4 P960 or Core i3-8121U, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.