Intel Core i3-8121U vs Intel Celeron 5205U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i3-8121U CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Celeron 5205U
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Celeron 5205U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Core i3-8121U and the Intel Celeron 5205U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Core i3-8121U 2 core processor released in Q2/2018 with the Intel Celeron 5205U which has 2 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2019.
Intel Core i3 (205) Family Intel Celeron (165)
Intel Core i 8000U (CL) (1) CPU group Intel Celeron 5000 (2)
8 Generation 10
Cannon Lake U Architecture Comet Lake U
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Intel Celeron 4205U
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-8121U is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.20 GHz (3.20 GHz). The processor can compute 4 threads at the same time. The Intel Celeron 5205U clocks with 1.90 GHz, has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel.

Intel Core i3-8121U Characteristic Intel Celeron 5205U
2 Cores 2
4 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.20 GHz Frequency 1.90 GHz
3.20 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) --
2.70 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) --

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 i3-8121U Characteristic Intel Celeron 5205U
-- 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 UHD Graphics (Comet Lake)
GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 0.90 GHz
-- GPU Generation 9.5
Technology 14 nm
Max. displays 3
-- Compute units 24
-- Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 32 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

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 UHD Graphics (Comet Lake)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 32 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Intel Core i3-8121U, while the Intel Celeron 5205U supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s enabled.

Intel Core i3-8121U Characteristic Intel Celeron 5205U
LPDDR4-2400, DDR4-2400 Memory LPDDR3-2133, DDR4-2400
32 GB Max. Memory 64 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
38.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
4.00 MB L3 Cache 2.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 2.0
16 PCIe lanes 12
15.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 6.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i3-8121U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP of the Intel Celeron 5205U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Core i3-8121U Characteristic Intel Celeron 5205U
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 12.5 W
105 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i3-8121U has 4.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 10 nm. The cache of Intel Celeron 5205U is at 2.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 14 nm.

Intel Core i3-8121U Characteristic Intel Celeron 5205U
10 nm Technology 14 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2
BGA 1356 Socket BGA 1528
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q2/2018 Release date Q4/2019
-- Release price 128 $
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-8121U (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U (46%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i3-8121U (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U (34%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
810 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
457 (56%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
1987 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
840 (42%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
1114 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
385 (35%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
2414 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
636 (26%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
4395 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
1455 (33%)

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 i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
Intel UHD Graphics (Comet Lake) @ 0.90 GHz
361 (100%)

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.
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
139 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
305 (100%)
Intel Celeron 5205U Intel Celeron 5205U
2C 2T @ 1.90 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Celeron 5205U
Unknown Unknown

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