Pentium Gold 6405U vs i3-8121U

Primary details

Comparing Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1748	2101
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i3	Intel Comet Lake
Power efficiency	9.31	10.79
Architecture codename	Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019)	Comet Lake-U (2019−2020)
Release date	5 May 2018 (6 years ago)	31 October 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$161

Detailed specifications

Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U 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	4
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	2.4 GHz
Bus type	OPI	no data
Bus rate	4 GT/s	4 GT/s
Multiplier	22	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	256 KB
L2 cache	256K (per core)	1 MB
L3 cache	4 MB (shared)	2 MB
Chip lithography	10 nm	14 nm
Die size	123 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	72 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U 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 (Uniprocessor)	1
Socket	Intel BGA1440	FCBGA1528
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	-
vPro	-	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
QuickAssist	-	no data
Speed Shift	+	+
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	+
Smart Response	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
HD Audio	+	no data
RST	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	+
MPX	+	-
Identity Protection	-	+
SGX	-	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4
Maximum memory size	32 GB	64 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	38.397 GB/s	37.5 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Iris Pro Plus	Intel UHD Graphics for 10th Gen Intel Processors
Max video memory	no data	32 GB
Quick Sync Video	-	+
Clear Video	no data	+
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	no data	950 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U integrated GPUs.

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

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support	no data	+
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096x2304@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	4096x2304@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	4096x2304@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12
OpenGL	no data	4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-8121U and Pentium Gold 6405U.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	16	12

Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	2.74	1.70
Recency	5 May 2018	31 October 2019
Chip lithography	10 nm	14 nm

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