i3-7120 vs Xeon E3-1230 v2
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1441 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 1.72 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Series | no data | Intel Core i3 |
| Power efficiency | 5.35 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Ivy Bridge (2012−2013) | Kaby Lake (2016−2019) |
| Release date | 14 May 2012 (12 years ago) | 17 July 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $360 | $117 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 4 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.7 GHz | 4 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 3.0 |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | 8 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 40 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 3 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 160 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 66 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 65 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,400 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120 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 | FCLGA1155 | 1151 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 69 Watt | 51 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX | no data |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| TSX | - | + |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| Fast Memory Access | + | no data |
Security technologies
Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | no data |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4 Dual-channel |
| Maximum memory size | 32.77 GB | 64 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 38.397 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel HD Graphics 630 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 14 May 2012 | 17 July 2017 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 69 Watt | 51 Watt |
Xeon E3-1230 v2 has 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.
i3-7120, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 years, a 57.1% more advanced lithography process, and 35.3% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Xeon E3-1230 v2 is a server/workstation processor while Core i3-7120 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1230 v2 and Core i3-7120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
