Ryzen 5 3500U vs FX-6120
Aggregate performance score
Ryzen 5 3500U outperforms FX-6120 by an impressive 78% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1751 | 1345 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 36 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | AMD Ryzen 5 |
| Power efficiency | 2.44 | 27.57 |
| Architecture codename | Zambezi (2011−2012) | Picasso-U (Zen+) (2019−2020) |
| Release date | 23 October 2012 (12 years ago) | 6 January 2019 (5 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U 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 | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 6 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 3.6 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.2 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | PCIe 3.0 |
| Multiplier | no data | 21 |
| L1 cache | 288 KB | 128K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 6 MB | 512K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 4 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 12 nm |
| Die size | 315 mm2 | 209.78 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 105 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,200 million | 4940 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U 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 | AM3+ | FP5 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 95 Watt | 15 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| FMA | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 64 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 38.397 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 12 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 2.45 | 4.37 |
| Recency | 23 October 2012 | 6 January 2019 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 4 |
| Threads | 6 | 8 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 12 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 95 Watt | 15 Watt |
FX-6120 has 50% more physical cores.
Ryzen 5 3500U, on the other hand, has a 78.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, 33.3% more threads, a 166.7% more advanced lithography process, and 533.3% lower power consumption.
The Ryzen 5 3500U is our recommended choice as it beats the FX-6120 in performance tests.
Note that FX-6120 is a desktop processor while Ryzen 5 3500U is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between FX-6120 and Ryzen 5 3500U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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