Pentium N3710 vs i3-2120

Place in the ranking	2323	2564
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.14	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Pentium
Power efficiency	1.79	13.88
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Braswell (2015−2016)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	1 April 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$95	$161

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 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	3.3 GHz	1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	2.56 GHz
Bus type	no data	IDI
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Die size	131 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	90 °C
Number of transistors	504 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 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	FCLGA1155	FCBGA1170
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	6 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Smart Response	no data	-
GPIO	no data	+
Smart Connect	no data	-
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
HD Audio	no data	+
RST	no data	-

Security technologies

Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Boot	no data	+
Secure Key	no data	+
Identity Protection	+	+
OS Guard	no data	-
Anti-Theft	no data	-

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	8 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
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	Intel HD Graphics 405 (Braswell) (400 - 700 MHz)
Max video memory	no data	8 GB
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	no data	+
Clear Video HD	+	+
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	700 MHz
Execution Units	no data	16
InTru 3D	+	-

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	3
eDP	no data	+
DisplayPort	-	+
HDMI	-	+

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	+
OpenGL	no data	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	4
USB revision	no data	2.0/3.0
Total number of SATA ports	no data	2
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	no data	2
Number of USB ports	no data	5
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.

i3-2120 1.23
+39.8%

Pentium N3710 0.88

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.

i3-2120 1956
+40.7%

Pentium N3710 1390

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.23	0.88
Integrated graphics card	0.55	0.73
Recency	20 February 2011	1 April 2016
Physical cores	2	4
Chip lithography	32 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	6 Watt

i3-2120 has a 39.8% higher aggregate performance score.

Pentium N3710, on the other hand, has 32.7% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 5 years, 100% more physical cores, a 128.6% more advanced lithography process, and 983.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-2120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium N3710 in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-2120 is a desktop processor while Pentium N3710 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2120 and Pentium N3710, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.