i3-3120M vs Pentium Silver A1030
Primary details
Comparing Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 2406 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Series | no data | Intel Core i3 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 2.89 |
| Architecture codename | no data | Ivy Bridge (2012−2013) |
| Release date | 1 July 2020 (4 years ago) | 30 September 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $160 |
Detailed specifications
Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M 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) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Bus rate | no data | 5 GT/s |
| L1 cache | no data | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | no data | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 3 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 22 nm |
| Die size | no data | 118 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 105 deg C | 90C (PGA); 105C (BGA) |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | no data | - |
Compatibility
Information on Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M 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 | FCBGA1090 | FCBGA1023,FCPGA988 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 35 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | - | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | - | no data |
| My WiFi | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Smart Response | - | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| GPIO | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | no data |
| FDI | no data | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
Security technologies
Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | - |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | + | no data |
| MPX | + | - |
| Identity Protection | + | + |
| SGX | Yes with Intel® ME | no data |
| OS Guard | + | no data |
| Anti-Theft | - | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
| VT-d | + | - |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | upto-2400 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 8 GB | 32 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 25.6 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Max video memory | 8 GB | no data |
| Quick Sync Video | + | + |
| Clear Video HD | no data | + |
| Graphics max frequency | 700 GHz | 1.1 GHz |
| Execution Units | 12 | no data |
| InTru 3D | no data | + |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 3 | 3 |
| eDP | + | + |
| DisplayPort | + | + |
| HDMI | + | + |
| MIPI-DSI | + | no data |
| SDVO | no data | + |
| CRT | no data | + |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| 4K resolution support | + | no data |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | 12 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.4 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 6 | 16 |
| USB revision | 2.0/3.0 | no data |
| Total number of SATA ports | 2 | no data |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | 2 | no data |
| Number of USB ports | 8 | no data |
| Integrated LAN | - | no data |
| UART | + | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 July 2020 | 30 September 2012 |
| Threads | 2 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 22 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 35 Watt |
Pentium Silver A1030 has an age advantage of 7 years, a 57.1% more advanced lithography process, and 133.3% lower power consumption.
i3-3120M, on the other hand, has 100% more threads.
We couldn't decide between Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium Silver A1030 and Core i3-3120M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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