i3-8109U vs A9-9420
Aggregate performance score
Core i3-8109U outperforms A9-9420 by a whopping 185% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2523 | 1719 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | AMD Bristol Ridge | Intel Core i3 |
| Power efficiency | 5.93 | 9.05 |
| Architecture codename | Stoney Ridge (2016−2019) | Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019) |
| Release date | 31 May 2016 (8 years ago) | 5 April 2018 (6 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $304 |
Detailed specifications
A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U 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 | 2 (Dual-core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 3 GHz | 3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.6 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | OPI |
| Bus rate | no data | 4 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 30 |
| L1 cache | 160 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (shared) | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 4 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 125 mm2 | 123 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 90 °C | 100 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 74 °C | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,200 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U 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 | FT4 | FCBGA1528 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 28 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Virtualization, | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| FMA | + | - |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| eDRAM | no data | 128 MB |
| 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 | + |
Security technologies
A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| MPX | - | + |
| Identity Protection | - | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® ME |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | + |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | 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 | Radeon R5 | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 |
| Max video memory | no data | 32 GB |
| Quick Sync Video | - | + |
| Clear Video | no data | + |
| Clear Video HD | no data | + |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 300 MHz |
| InTru 3D | no data | + |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 3 |
| eDP | no data | + |
| DisplayPort | - | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| DVI | no data | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | no data | + |
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | no data | 4096x2304@30Hz |
| Max resolution over eDP | no data | 4096x2304@60Hz |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | no data | 4096x2304@60Hz |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | no data | 12 |
| OpenGL | no data | 4.5 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 8 | 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.
Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core
Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.
Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core
Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made 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 (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.94 | 2.68 |
| Recency | 31 May 2016 | 5 April 2018 |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 28 Watt |
A9-9420 has 86.7% lower power consumption.
i3-8109U, on the other hand, has a 185.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, 100% more threads, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.
The Core i3-8109U is our recommended choice as it beats the A9-9420 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between A9-9420 and Core i3-8109U, 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.
