Phenom II X2 N640 vs i3-2120

Place in the ranking	2322	2545
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	2x AMD Phenom II
Power efficiency	1.78	2.45
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Champlain (2010−2011)
Release date	20 February 2011 (13 years ago)	1 October 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$95	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640 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	4	2
Base clock speed	3.3 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	2.9 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	3600 MHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	256 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2 MB
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	no data
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Die size	131 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	69 °C	no data
Number of transistors	504 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640 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	no data
Socket	FCLGA1155	S1
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	HyperTransport 3.0, SSE4A, AMD64, Enhanced Virus Protection, Vurtualization
VirusProtect	-	+
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 i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640 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 i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640 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 Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640. 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	Intel HD Graphics 2000	no data
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 i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640.

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.

i3-2120 1.23
+35.2%

Phenom II X2 N640 0.91

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.

i3-2120 497
+45.3%

Phenom II X2 N640 342

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.

i3-2120 1022
+64%

Phenom II X2 N640 623

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.23	0.91
Recency	20 February 2011	1 October 2010
Threads	4	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	35 Watt

i3-2120 has a 35.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 months, 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

Phenom II X2 N640, on the other hand, has 85.7% lower power consumption.

The Core i3-2120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Phenom II X2 N640 in performance tests.

Note that Core i3-2120 is a desktop processor while Phenom II X2 N640 is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2120 and Phenom II X2 N640, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.