AMD FX-8120 vs Intel Core i7-5550U

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD FX-8120 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-5550U
AMD FX-8120 Intel Core i7-5550U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the AMD FX-8120 and the Intel Core i7-5550U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the AMD FX-8120 8 core processor released in Q2/2012 with the Intel Core i7-5550U which has 2 CPU cores and was introduced in Q1/2015.
AMD FX (30) Family Intel Core i7 (298)
AMD FX-8000 (11) CPU group Intel Core i 5000U (16)
2 Generation 5
Vishera (Bulldozer) Architecture Broadwell U
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Intel Core i7-4550U
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD FX-8120 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.10 GHz (4.00 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i7-5550U clocks with 2.00 GHz (3.00 GHz), has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel.

AMD FX-8120 Characteristic Intel Core i7-5550U
8 Cores 2
8 Threads 4
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
Yes Overclocking ? No
3.10 GHz Frequency 2.00 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.00 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 2.90 GHz

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

AMD FX-8120 Characteristic Intel Core i7-5550U
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

no iGPU GPU Intel HD Graphics 6000
GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.00 GHz
-- GPU Generation 8
Technology 14 nm
Max. displays 3
-- Compute units 48
-- Shader 384
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 8 GB
-- DirectX Version 11.2

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.

no iGPU GPU Intel HD Graphics 6000
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

Up to GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the AMD FX-8120, while the Intel Core i7-5550U supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 29.9 GB/s enabled.

AMD FX-8120 Characteristic Intel Core i7-5550U
DDR3-1866 Memory DDR3-1866
Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
29.9 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 29.9 GB/s
Yes ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
8.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version 2.0
-- PCIe lanes 12
-- PCIe Bandwidth 6.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The AMD FX-8120 has a TDP of 95 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i7-5550U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

AMD FX-8120 Characteristic Intel Core i7-5550U
95 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The AMD FX-8120 has 8.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 32 nm. The cache of Intel Core i7-5550U is at 4.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 14 nm.

AMD FX-8120 Characteristic Intel Core i7-5550U
32 nm Technology 14 nm
Unknown Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
AM3+ Socket BGA 1168
AMD-V Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q2/2012 Release date Q1/2015
115 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the AMD FX-8120 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-5550U to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD FX-8120 (71%)
Intel Core i7-5550U (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
AMD FX-8120 (100%)
Intel Core i7-5550U (59%)

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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
479 (70%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
681 (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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
2085 (100%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
1746 (84%)

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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
6596 (100%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
2801 (42%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
89 (72%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
123 (100%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
587 (100%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
307 (52%)

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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
956 (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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
8C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
2C 4T @ 2.90 GHz
1941 (100%)

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 FX-8120 AMD FX-8120
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-5550U Intel Core i7-5550U
Intel HD Graphics 6000 @ 1.00 GHz
768 (100%)

Devices using this processor

AMD FX-8120 Intel Core i7-5550U
Unknown Unknown

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. AMD FX-8120AMD FX-8350 AMD FX-8120 vs AMD FX-8350
2. AMD FX-6300AMD FX-8120 AMD FX-6300 vs AMD FX-8120
3. AMD FX-8300AMD FX-8120 AMD FX-8300 vs AMD FX-8120
4. AMD FX-8120AMD FX-8320 AMD FX-8120 vs AMD FX-8320
5. AMD FX-6350AMD FX-8120 AMD FX-6350 vs AMD FX-8120
6. AMD FX-8120AMD FX-8320E AMD FX-8120 vs AMD FX-8320E
7. AMD FX-8120AMD FX-9590 AMD FX-8120 vs AMD FX-9590
8. AMD FX-4350AMD FX-8120 AMD FX-4350 vs AMD FX-8120
9. AMD FX-8120AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AMD FX-8120 vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600
10. AMD FX-8120AMD Ryzen 5 3600 AMD FX-8120 vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600


back to index