AMD A4-9120C vs Apple M3 (8-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD A4-9120C CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3 (8-GPU)
AMD A4-9120C Apple M3 (8-GPU)

CPU comparison

AMD A4-9120C or Apple M3 (8-GPU) - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The AMD A4-9120C has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The AMD A4-9120C was released in Q1/2019.

The Apple M3 (8-GPU) has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.06 GHz. The CPU supports up to 24 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M3 (8-GPU) was released in Q4/2023.
AMD A (112) Family Apple M series (25)
AMD A4-9000 (2) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
6 Generation 3
Stoney Ridge (Excavator) Architecture M3
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple M2 (8-GPU)
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD A4-9120C is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.60 GHz (2.40 GHz). The Apple M3 (8-GPU) has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz).

AMD A4-9120C Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
2 Cores 8
2 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.60 GHz (2.40 GHz) A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
4x P-Core
-- B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
4x E-Core

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

AMD A4-9120C Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

AMD Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU Apple M3 (8 Core)
0.60 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
7 GPU Generation --
28 nm Technology 3 nm
3 Max. displays 2
3 Compute units 128
192 Shader 1024
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 24 GB
12 DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

AMD Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) GPU Apple M3 (8 Core)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The AMD A4-9120C supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple M3 (8-GPU) can connect up to 24 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

AMD A4-9120C Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
DDR4-1866 Memory LPDDR5-6400
8 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
15.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 20.00 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache --
3.0 PCIe version 4.0
8 PCIe lanes --
7.9 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The AMD A4-9120C has a TDP of 6 W, that of the Apple M3 (8-GPU) is 22 W.

AMD A4-9120C Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
6 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 22 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 10 W
90 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The AMD A4-9120C has a 2.00 MB cache, while the Apple M3 (8-GPU) cache has a total of 20.00 MB.

AMD A4-9120C Characteristic Apple M3 (8-GPU)
28 nm Technology 3 nm
Unknown Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4 ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
FP4 Socket --
AMD-V Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
Yes AES-NI Yes
Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q1/2019 Release date Q4/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the AMD A4-9120C to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 1.0 stars (17 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M3 (8-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (71 ratings). Rate now:


iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
AMD Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) @ 0.60 GHz
230 (8%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
Apple M3 (8 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
2840 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
137 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
659 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
1965 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10437 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
2150 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10450 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
3125 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
11863 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 2.00 GHz
1545 (100%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
1.60 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
10,437 CB R23 MC @ 22 W
474 (100%)

AI performance (NPU)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
AMD A4-9120C AMD A4-9120C
2C 2T @ 1.60 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 (8-GPU) Apple M3 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

AMD A4-9120C Apple M3 (8-GPU)
Unknown Apple iMac 24 (2023)

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