Xeon E3120 vs E3-1230

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1507	2433
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.44	0.06
Market segment	Server	Server
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	no data
Release date	3 April 2011 (13 years ago)	1 July 2008 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$428	no data
Current price	$181 (0.4x MSRP)	$160

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E3-1230 has 2300% better value for money than Xeon E3120.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120 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)	no data
Threads	8	no data
Base clock speed	3.2 GHz	3.16 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	no data
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	6 MB L2 Cache
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	216 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	72 °C
Number of transistors	1,160 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120 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	no data
Socket	LGA1155	LGA775
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120. 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	+	no data
AVX	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	-
FDI	-	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
FSB parity	no data	-
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	no data
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	21 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	20	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.

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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.

E3-1230 outperforms E3120 by 263% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	3.30	0.91
Recency	3 April 2011	1 July 2008
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1230 and Xeon E3120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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