A8-3520M vs i3-2100

Place in the ranking	2356	2522
Place by popularity	99	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.28	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	AMD A-Series
Power efficiency	1.70	2.45
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Llano (2011−2012)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	20 December 2011 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$73	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M 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	4	4
Base clock speed	3.1 GHz	1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.1 GHz	2.5 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1 MB (per core)
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	131 mm²	228 mm²
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	no data
Number of transistors	504 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M 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	FCLGA1155	FS1
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	3DNow!, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4a, Radeon HD 6620G
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M 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 Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

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

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics 2000	AMD Radeon HD 6620G
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	no data
InTru 3D	+	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M.

PCIe version	2.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	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.

i3-2100 1.17
+28.6%

A8-3520M 0.91

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.

i3-2100 1858
+28.3%

A8-3520M 1448

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.

i3-2100 463
+81.6%

A8-3520M 255

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.

i3-2100 943
+37.3%

A8-3520M 687

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.17	0.91
Integrated graphics card	0.55	0.88
Recency	20 February 2011	20 December 2011
Physical cores	2	4
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

i3-2100 has a 28.6% higher aggregate performance score.

A8-3520M, on the other hand, has 60% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 10 months, 100% more physical cores, and 85.7% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-2100 is our recommended choice as it beats the A8-3520M in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-2100 is a desktop processor while A8-3520M is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2100 and A8-3520M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.