3 100U vs Celeron N4120

Place in the ranking	2103	805
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Gemini Lake	Raptor Lake-U
Power efficiency	24.77	59.50
Architecture codename	Gemini Lake Refresh (2019)	Raptor Lake-U Refresh (2024)
Release date	4 November 2019 (5 years ago)	8 January 2024 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$426

Detailed specifications

Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U 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)	6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads	4	8
Base clock speed	1.1 GHz	1.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.6 GHz	4.7 GHz
Bus rate	no data	55 MHz
L1 cache	no data	80 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB	1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache	4 MB	10 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	Intel 7 nm
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data

Compatibility

Information on Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U 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	FCBGA1090	FCBGA1744
Power consumption (TDP)	6 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	-	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Smart Response	-	no data
GPIO	+	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	no data	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	+
MPX	+	-
Identity Protection	+	-
SGX	Yes with Intel® ME	no data
OS Guard	+	+
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR5-5200, DDR4-3200, LPDDR4x-4267
Maximum memory size	8 GB	96 GB
Max memory channels	2	2

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel UHD Graphics 600	Intel® Graphics
Max video memory	8 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Graphics max frequency	700 MHz	1.25 GHz
Execution Units	12	64

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	4
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
MIPI-DSI	+	no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	+	no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096x2160@30Hz	4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	4096x2160@60Hz	4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	4096x2160@60Hz	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	12.1
OpenGL	4.4	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U.

PCIe version	2.0	4.0
PCI Express lanes	6	8
USB revision	2.0/3.0	no data
Total number of SATA ports	2	no data
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	2	no data
Number of USB ports	8	no data
Integrated LAN	-	no data
UART	+	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.

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.

Celeron N4120 1.60

3 100U 9.61
+501%

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.

Celeron N4120 2487

3 100U 14987
+503%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.60	9.61
Recency	4 November 2019	8 January 2024
Physical cores	4	6
Threads	4	8
Power consumption (TDP)	6 Watt	15 Watt

Celeron N4120 has 150% lower power consumption.

3 100U, on the other hand, has a 500.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, and 50% more physical cores and 100% more threads.

The Core 3 100U is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron N4120 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Celeron N4120 and Core 3 100U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.