Core i3-2120 vs Core 2 Extreme X7900

Place in the ranking	2709	2307
Place by popularity	not in top-100	98
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	0.14
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Core 2 Extreme	no data
Power efficiency	1.51	1.79
Architecture codename	Merom (2006−2008)	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)
Release date	1 September 2007 (17 years ago)	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$851	$95

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120 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	2.8 GHz	3.3 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.8 GHz	3.3 GHz
Bus rate	800 MHz	5 GT/s
L1 cache	128 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	65 nm	32 nm
Die size	143 mm²	131 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	69 °C
Number of transistors	no data	504 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	1.1V-1.375V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120 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	PPGA478	FCLGA1155
Power consumption (TDP)	44 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
Idle States	-	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FDI	no data	+
Fast Memory Access	no data	+
AMT	+	no data
FSB parity	-	no data

Security technologies

Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	-	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120 are enumerated here.

VT-d	no data	-
VT-x	+	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR1	DDR3
Maximum memory size	no data	32 GB
Max memory channels	no data	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	no data	21 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel HD Graphics 2000
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	1.1 GHz
InTru 3D	no data	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120.

PCIe version	no data	2.0
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.

Core 2 Extreme X7900 0.70

i3-2120 1.23
+75.7%

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.

Core 2 Extreme X7900 1104

i3-2120 1956
+77.2%

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.

Core 2 Extreme X7900 387

i3-2120 497
+28.4%

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.

Core 2 Extreme X7900 625

i3-2120 1023
+63.7%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.70	1.23
Recency	1 September 2007	20 February 2011
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	65 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	44 Watt	65 Watt

Core 2 Extreme X7900 has 47.7% lower power consumption.

i3-2120, on the other hand, has a 75.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, 100% more threads, and a 103.1% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i3-2120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Extreme X7900 in performance tests.

Be aware that Core 2 Extreme X7900 is a notebook processor while Core i3-2120 is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core 2 Extreme X7900 and Core i3-2120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.