Intel Core i3-2120T vs HiSilicon Kirin 955

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i3-2120T CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 955
Intel Core i3-2120T HiSilicon Kirin 955

CPU comparison

Intel Core i3-2120T or HiSilicon Kirin 955 - 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 Intel Core i3-2120T has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.60 GHz. Up to 32 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-2120T was released in Q3/2011.

The HiSilicon Kirin 955 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 955 was released in Q2/2016.
Intel Core i3 (205) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
Intel Core i 2000 (28) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 950 (2)
2 Generation 4
Sandy Bridge S Architecture Cortex-A72 / Cortex-A53
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-2120T has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-2120T is 2.60 GHz while the HiSilicon Kirin 955 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the HiSilicon Kirin 955 is at 2.50 GHz.

Intel Core i3-2120T Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 955
2 Cores 8
4 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.60 GHz A-Core 2.50 GHz
4x Cortex-A72
-- B-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A53

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.

Intel Core i3-2120T Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 955
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i3-2120T or HiSilicon Kirin 955 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

Intel HD Graphics 2000 GPU ARM Mali-T880 MP4
0.65 GHz GPU frequency 0.90 GHz
1.10 GHz GPU (Turbo) 0.90 GHz
6 GPU Generation Midgard 4
32 nm Technology 16 nm
2 Max. displays 2
6 Compute units 4
48 Shader 64
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory --
10.1 DirectX Version 11

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.

Intel HD Graphics 2000 GPU ARM Mali-T880 MP4
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i3-2120T can use up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 21.3 GB/s. The HiSilicon Kirin 955 supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to --.

Intel Core i3-2120T Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 955
DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333 Memory LPDDR4, LPDDR3
32 GB Max. Memory
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
21.3 GB/s Max. Bandwidth --
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
3.00 MB L3 Cache --
2.0 PCIe version --
16 PCIe lanes --
8.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i3-2120T is 35 W, while the HiSilicon Kirin 955 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i3-2120T Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 955
35 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i3-2120T is manufactured in 32 nm and has 3.00 MB cache. The HiSilicon Kirin 955 is manufactured in 16 nm and has a 0.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i3-2120T Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 955
32 nm Technology 16 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX ISA extensions --
LGA 1155 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Android
Q3/2011 Release date Q2/2016
121 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-2120T (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 (64%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-2120T (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 (82%)

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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
515 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
8C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
330 (64%)

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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1202 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
8C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
989 (82%)

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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
Intel HD Graphics 2000 @ 1.10 GHz
106 (86%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
ARM Mali-T880 MP4 @ 0.90 GHz
122 (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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
418 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
8C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
903 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
8C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i3-2120T Intel Core i3-2120T
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1502 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 955 HiSilicon Kirin 955
8C 8T @ 2.50 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i3-2120T HiSilicon Kirin 955
Unknown Unknown

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