i3-330M vs Pentium B980

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Aggregate performance score

Pentium B980
2012
2 cores / 2 threads, 35 Watt
0.68
+6.3%
Core i3-330M
2010
2 cores / 4 threads, 35 Watt
0.64

Pentium B980 outperforms Core i3-330M by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking27322767
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
SeriesIntel PentiumIntel Core i3
Power efficiency1.841.73
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge (2011−2013)Arrandale (2010−2011)
Release date1 September 2012 (12 years ago)7 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$125$49

Detailed specifications

Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M 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 cores2 (Dual-core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads24
Base clock speed2.4 GHz2.13 GHz
Boost clock speed2.4 GHz0.03 GHz
Bus typeDMI 2.0DMI 1.0
Bus rate4 × 5 GT/s1 × 2.5 GT/s
Multiplier2416
L1 cache128 KB128 KB
L2 cache512 KB512 KB
L3 cache2 MB (shared)3 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm32 nm
Die size131 mm281+114 mm2
Maximum core temperature85 °C90 °C for rPGA, 105 °C for BGA
Number of transistors504 million382 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCPGA988,PGA988BGA1288,PGA988
Power consumption (TDP)35 Watt35 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
FMA++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
My WiFi-no data
Turbo Boost Technology--
Hyper-Threading Technology-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Access++
Demand Based Switching-no data
PAEno data36 Bit
FDI++
Fast Memory Access++

Security technologies

Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Anti-Theft-no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M are enumerated here.

VT-d--
VT-x-+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3-800, DDR3-1066
Maximum memory size16 GB8 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth21.335 GB/s17.051 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel ProcessorsIntel HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel Processors
Clear Videono data+
Clear Video HD-+
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHz667 MHz

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported22
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
SDVO+no data
CRT+no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M.

PCIe version2.02.0
PCI Express lanes1616

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.

Pentium B980 0.68
+6.3%
i3-330M 0.64

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.

Pentium B980 1088
+6.4%
i3-330M 1023

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.

Pentium B980 371
+35.9%
i3-330M 273

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.

Pentium B980 637
+11.8%
i3-330M 570

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Pentium B980 3109
+33.4%
i3-330M 2330

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Pentium B980 5879
+7.1%
i3-330M 5491

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.

Pentium B980 2463
+10.4%
i3-330M 2230

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Pentium B980 32.93
i3-330M 23.95
+37.5%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Pentium B980 2
+4.6%
i3-330M 2

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 0.68 0.64
Recency 1 September 2012 7 January 2010
Threads 2 4

Pentium B980 has a 6.3% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 2 years.

i3-330M, on the other hand, has 100% more threads.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M.


Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium B980 and Core i3-330M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Pentium B980
Pentium B980
Intel Core i3-330M
Core i3-330M

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

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