i3-8121U vs A8-3520M
Aggregate performance score
Core i3-8121U outperforms A8-3520M by a whopping 203% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2522 | 1686 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | AMD A-Series | Intel Core i3 |
| Power efficiency | 2.46 | 9.33 |
| Architecture codename | Llano (2011−2012) | Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019) |
| Release date | 20 December 2011 (12 years ago) | 5 May 2018 (6 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
A8-3520M 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 cores | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 1.6 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | OPI |
| Bus rate | no data | 4 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 22 |
| L1 cache | 128 KB (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (per core) | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 4 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 10 nm |
| Die size | 228 mm2 | 123 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,178 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on A8-3520M 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 configuration | 1 | 1 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | FS1 | Intel BGA1440 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 15 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | 3DNow!, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4a, Radeon HD 6620G | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| QuickAssist | no data | - |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| My WiFi | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Smart Response | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| HD Audio | no data | + |
| RST | no data | + |
Security technologies
A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| MPX | - | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| VT-i | no data | - |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 32 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 38.397 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | AMD Radeon HD 6620G (444 MHz) | Iris Pro Plus |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U.
| PCIe version | no data | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 16 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.91 | 2.76 |
| Recency | 20 December 2011 | 5 May 2018 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 10 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 35 Watt | 15 Watt |
A8-3520M has 100% more physical cores.
i3-8121U, on the other hand, has a 203.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 220% more advanced lithography process, and 133.3% lower power consumption.
The Core i3-8121U is our recommended choice as it beats the A8-3520M in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between A8-3520M and Core i3-8121U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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