Processor N100 vs i3-8121U

Place in the ranking	1698	1776
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Series	Intel Core i3	Intel Alder Lake-N
Power efficiency	9.33	38.33
Architecture codename	Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019)	Alder Lake-N (2023)
Release date	15 May 2018 (6 years ago)	3 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$128

Detailed specifications

Core i3-8121U and Processor N100 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	2.2 GHz	0.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	3.4 GHz
Bus type	OPI	no data
Bus rate	4 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	22	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	96 KB (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	2 MB (shared)
L3 cache	4 MB (shared)	6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	10 nm	10 nm
Die size	123 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	105 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	72 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Core i3-8121U and Processor N100 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	Intel BGA 1264
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	6 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-8121U and Processor N100. 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	no data
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	-	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
QuickAssist	-	no data
Speed Shift	+	no data
My WiFi	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Smart Response	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
HD Audio	+	no data
RST	+	no data

Security technologies

Core i3-8121U and Processor N100 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	no data
Secure Key	+	no data
MPX	+	-
SGX	-	no data
OS Guard	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-8121U and Processor N100 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-8121U and Processor N100. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	38.397 GB/s	no data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

Iris Pro Plus

Intel UHD Graphics 24EUs (Alder Lake-N) ( - 750 MHz)

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-8121U and Processor N100.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	16	9

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.

i3-8121U 2.76
+13.6%

Processor N100 2.43

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i3-8121U 4314

Processor N100 4838
+12.1%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i3-8121U 318

Processor N100 402
+26.4%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i3-8121U 133

Processor N100 148
+11.2%