Intel Pentium N6211 vs Intel Core i3-8121U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Pentium N6211 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i3-8121U
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Core i3-8121U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Intel Pentium N6211 and the Intel Core i3-8121U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Intel Pentium N6211 4 core processor released in Q1/2021 with the Intel Core i3-8121U which has 2 CPU cores and was introduced in Q2/2018.
Intel Pentium (150) Family Intel Core i3 (205)
Intel Pentium N6200/J6400/N6400 (3) CPU group Intel Core i 8000U (CL) (1)
11 Generation 8
Elkhart Lake Architecture Cannon Lake U
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Pentium N6211 is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.20 GHz (3.00 GHz). The processor can compute 4 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i3-8121U clocks with 2.20 GHz (3.20 GHz), has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel.

Intel Pentium N6211 Characteristic Intel Core i3-8121U
4 Cores 2
4 Threads 4
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
1.20 GHz Frequency 2.20 GHz
3.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.20 GHz
2.20 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 2.70 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.

Intel Pentium N6211 Characteristic Intel Core i3-8121U
-- 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.

Intel UHD Graphics 16 EUs (Elkhart Lake) GPU no iGPU
0.25 GHz GPU frequency --
0.75 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
11 GPU Generation --
10 nm Technology
3 Max. displays
16 Compute units --
128 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
8 GB Max. GPU Memory --
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.

Intel UHD Graphics 16 EUs (Elkhart Lake) GPU no iGPU
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

Up to 32 GB of memory in a maximum of 4 memory channels is supported by the Intel Pentium N6211, while the Intel Core i3-8121U supports a maximum of 32 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s enabled.

Intel Pentium N6211 Characteristic Intel Core i3-8121U
LPDDR4X-3200, LPDDR4-3200, DDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR4-2400, DDR4-2400
32 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
102.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 38.4 GB/s
No ECC No
1.50 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 3.0
8 PCIe lanes 16
7.9 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Intel Pentium N6211 has a TDP of 6.5 W. The TDP of the Intel Core i3-8121U is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Intel Pentium N6211 Characteristic Intel Core i3-8121U
6.5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
105 °C Tjunction max. 105 °C

Technical details

The Intel Pentium N6211 has 1.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 10 nm. The cache of Intel Core i3-8121U is at 4.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 10 nm.

Intel Pentium N6211 Characteristic Intel Core i3-8121U
10 nm Technology 10 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512
BGA 1296 Socket BGA 1356
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q1/2021 Release date Q2/2018
64 $ Release price --
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Pentium N6211 (63%)
Intel Core i3-8121U (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Intel Pentium N6211 (80%)
Intel Core i3-8121U (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
671 (83%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
810 (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 2.20 GHz
1955 (98%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
1987 (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 Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
474 (43%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
1114 (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 2.20 GHz
1362 (56%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
2414 (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 2.20 GHz
3760 (86%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
4395 (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
Intel UHD Graphics 16 EUs (Elkhart Lake) @ 0.75 GHz
193 (100%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)

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 Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
139 (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.
Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Pentium N6211
4C 4T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
305 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Pentium N6211 Intel Core i3-8121U
Unknown Unknown

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