Atom 230 vs FX-8120
Primary details
Comparing FX-8120 and Atom 230 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1382 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Atom |
| Power efficiency | 3.14 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Zambezi (2011−2012) | Silverthorne (2008−2010) |
| Release date | 12 October 2011 (13 years ago) | 2 April 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $29 |
Detailed specifications
FX-8120 and Atom 230 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 | 8 (Octa-Core) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 3.1 GHz | 1.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4 GHz | 0.1 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | FSB |
| Bus rate | no data | 533.33 MT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 12 |
| L1 cache | 384 KB | 56 KB |
| L2 cache | 8192 KB | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 8192 KB | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 315 mm2 | 25.9638 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 61 °C | 85 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,200 million | 47 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
| P0 Vcore voltage | Min: 1.0125 V - Max: 1.4125 V | no data |
| VID voltage range | no data | 0.9V-1.1625V |
Compatibility
Information on FX-8120 and Atom 230 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+ | PBGA437 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 125 Watt | 4 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by FX-8120 and Atom 230. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE2, Intel® SSE3, Intel® SSSE3 |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| FMA | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | - |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
Security technologies
FX-8120 and Atom 230 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by FX-8120 and Atom 230 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
| VT-d | no data | - |
| VT-x | no data | - |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by FX-8120 and Atom 230. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | no data |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 8 GB |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by FX-8120 and Atom 230.
| PCIe version | n/a | 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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 12 October 2011 | 2 April 2008 |
| Physical cores | 8 | 1 |
| Threads | 8 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 125 Watt | 4 Watt |
FX-8120 has an age advantage of 3 years, 700% more physical cores and 300% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
Atom 230, on the other hand, has 3025% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between FX-8120 and Atom 230. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that FX-8120 is a desktop processor while Atom 230 is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions on choice between FX-8120 and Atom 230, 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.
