i3-12100F vs Athlon II X2 260
Aggregate performance score
Core i3-12100F outperforms Athlon II X2 260 by a whopping 1097% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2657 | 857 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 5 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 3.72 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 1.08 | 14.50 |
| Architecture codename | Regor (2009−2013) | Alder Lake-S (2022) |
| Release date | 11 May 2010 (14 years ago) | January 2022 (2 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $48 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 2 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 4.3 GHz |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1 MB | 1.25 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 12 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | 117 mm2 | 163 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 100 °C |
| Number of transistors | 410 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F 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 | AM3 | FCLGA1700 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 58 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F 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 Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 76.8 GB/s |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 5.0 and 4.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 20 |
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 0.77 | 9.22 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 4 |
| Threads | 2 | 8 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 58 Watt |
i3-12100F has a 1097.4% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and 12.1% lower power consumption.
The Core i3-12100F is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon II X2 260 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon II X2 260 and Core i3-12100F, 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.
