Xeon Platinum 9242 vs i3-2120
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2322 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.14 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | no data | Intel Xeon Platinum |
| Power efficiency | 1.79 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Cascade Lake-AP (2019) |
| Release date | 20 February 2011 (13 years ago) | 2 April 2019 (5 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $95 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242 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) | 48 (Octatetraconta-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 96 |
| Base clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 2.3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 3.0 |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | 4 × 8 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 23 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 1 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 3 MB (shared) | 71.5 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 131 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 69 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 504 million | 8,000 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242 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 | 8 |
| Socket | FCLGA1155 | Intel BGA5903 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 350 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX | Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| 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 Xeon Platinum 9242 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Identity Protection | + | - |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | - | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4-2933 |
| Maximum memory size | 32 GB | 2 TiB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 12 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | 281.6 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
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 Xeon Platinum 9242 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 20 February 2011 | 2 April 2019 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 48 |
| Threads | 4 | 96 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 350 Watt |
i3-2120 has 438.5% lower power consumption.
Xeon Platinum 9242, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 years, 2300% more physical cores and 2300% more threads, and a 128.6% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that Core i3-2120 is a desktop processor while Xeon Platinum 9242 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-2120 and Xeon Platinum 9242, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
