A9-9420 vs A8-3520M

Place in the ranking	2520	2502
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	AMD A-Series	AMD Bristol Ridge
Power efficiency	2.48	5.96
Architecture codename	Llano (2011−2012)	Stoney Ridge (2016−2019)
Release date	20 December 2011 (12 years ago)	31 May 2016 (8 years ago)

Detailed specifications

A8-3520M and A9-9420 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	4	2
Base clock speed	1.6 GHz	3 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.5 GHz	3.6 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB (per core)	160 KB
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	1 MB (shared)
L3 cache	0 KB	no data
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Die size	228 mm²	125 mm²
Maximum core temperature	no data	90 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	1,178 million	1,200 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on A8-3520M and A9-9420 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
Socket	FS1	FT4
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by A8-3520M and A9-9420. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	3DNow!, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4a, Radeon HD 6620G	Virtualization,
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	-	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by A8-3520M and A9-9420 are enumerated here.

AMD-V

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by A8-3520M and A9-9420. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types

DDR3

DDR4

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

AMD Radeon HD 6620G

Radeon R5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by A8-3520M and A9-9420.

PCIe version	no data	3.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	8

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.

A8-3520M 0.95

A9-9420 0.98
+3.2%

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.

A8-3520M 1448

A9-9420 1498
+3.5%

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.

A8-3520M 255

A9-9420 325
+27.5%

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.

A8-3520M 687
+37.4%

A9-9420 500

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

A8-3520M 1757

A9-9420 2875
+63.6%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

A8-3520M 5676
+17.2%

A9-9420 4841

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

A8-3520M 22.43

A9-9420 21.29
+5.4%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

A8-3520M 2
+22.6%

A9-9420 2

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark 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 loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

A8-3520M 0.51

A9-9420 0.99
+94.1%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.95	0.98
Recency	20 December 2011	31 May 2016
Physical cores	4	2
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	15 Watt

A8-3520M has 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.

A9-9420, on the other hand, has a 3.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 14.3% more advanced lithography process, and 133.3% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between A8-3520M and A9-9420.

Should you still have questions on choice between A8-3520M and A9-9420, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.