A8-3870K vs Pentium G3420

Place in the ranking	2329	2177
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.07	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	2.16	1.39
Architecture codename	Haswell (2013−2015)	Llano (2011−2012)
Release date	1 September 2013 (11 years ago)	20 December 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$252	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K 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	2	4
Base clock speed	3.2 GHz	3 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	3 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1 MB (per core)
L3 cache	3 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Die size	177 mm²	228 mm²
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	72 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1,400 million	1,178 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K 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
Socket	FCLGA1150	FM1
Power consumption (TDP)	53 Watt	100 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-

Security technologies

Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K 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 Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card Compare	Intel HD Graphics for 4th Generation Intel Processors	AMD Radeon HD 6550D
Max video memory	1.7 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Graphics max frequency	1.15 GHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K integrated GPUs.

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

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	1920x1080@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over eDP	2560x1600@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over DisplayPort	2560x1600@60Hz	no data
Max resolution over VGA	1920x1200@60Hz	no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	11.1/12	no data
OpenGL	4.3	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K.

PCIe version	Up to 3.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	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.

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 G3420 1.23

A8-3870K 1.47
+19.5%

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 G3420 1949

A8-3870K 2328
+19.4%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	1.23	1.47
Integrated graphics card	0.77	1.04
Recency	1 September 2013	20 December 2011
Physical cores	2	4
Threads	2	4
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	53 Watt	100 Watt

Pentium G3420 has an age advantage of 1 year, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 88.7% lower power consumption.

A8-3870K, on the other hand, has a 19.5% higher aggregate performance score, 35.1% faster integrated GPU, and 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.

The A8-3870K is our recommended choice as it beats the Pentium G3420 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium G3420 and A8-3870K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.