Intel Core i3-8121U Benchmark, Test and specs

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The Intel Core i3-8121U was released in Q2/2018 and has 2 cores. The processor can process 4 threads simultaneously and uses a mainboard with the socket BGA 1356. In the Geekbench 5 benchmark, the Intel Core i3-8121U achieved a result of 810 points (single-core) or 1,987 points (multi-core).
Intel Core i3-8121U

CPU lineage

In this classification you can see to which group of processors the Intel Core i3-8121U belongs. We also show the direct predecessor and successor of Intel Core i3-8121U.

Name: Intel Core i3-8121U
Family: Intel Core i3 (202)
CPU group: Intel Core i 8000U (1)
Architecture: Cannon Lake U
Segment: Mobile
Generation: 8
Predecessor: --
Successor: --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-8121U has 2 cores. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-8121U is 2.20 GHz (3.20 GHz). An initial performance assessment can be made using the number of CPU cores.

CPU Cores / Threads: 2 / 4
Core architecture: normal
Cores: 2x
Hyperthreading / SMT: Yes
Overclocking: No
Frequency: 2.20 GHz
Turbo Frequency (1 Core): 3.20 GHz
Turbo Frequency (2 Cores): 2.70 GHz

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i3-8121U supports a maximum of 32 GB memory. Depending on the mainboard, the processor can use a maximum of 2 (Dual Channel) memory channels. This results in a maximum bandwidth of the main memory of 38.4 GB/s.

Memory type: Memory bandwidth:

DDR4-2400
38.4 GB/s
38.4 GB/s
Max. Memory: 32 GB
Memory channels: 2 (Dual Channel)
ECC: No
PCIe: 3.0 x 16
PCIe Bandwidth: 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Intel Core i3-8121U has a TDP of 15 W. Based on the TDP, the system manufacturer can and must adapt the cooling solution to the processor.

TDP (PL1 / PBP): 15 W
TDP (PL2): --
TDP up: --
TDP down: --
Tjunction max.: 105 °C

Technical details

Modern production reduces the waste heat of a processor and increases its efficiency. The Intel Core i3-8121U is made in 10 nm and has 4.00 MB cache.

Technology: 10 nm
Chip design: Monolithic
Socket: BGA 1356
L2-Cache: --
L3-Cache: 4.00 MB
AES-NI: Yes
Operating systems: Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Virtualization: VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Instruction set (ISA): x86-64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions: SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512
Release date: Q2/2018
Release price: --
Part Number: --
Documents: Technical data sheet

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Benchmark results

Verified Benchmark results
The benchmark results for the Intel Core i3-8121U have been carefully checked by us. We only publish benchmark results that have been created by us or that have been submitted by a visitor and then checked by a team member. All results are based on and fullfill our benchmark guidelines.


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 i3-4130 Intel Core i3-4130
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
812
Intel Core i5-3470T Intel Core i5-3470T
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
811
Intel Xeon E5-2650 v4 Intel Xeon E5-2650 v4
12C 24T @ 2.90 GHz
811
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
810
Intel Core i5-2550k Intel Core i5-2550k
4C 4T @ 3.80 GHz
810
Intel Core i5-4300M Intel Core i5-4300M
2C 4T @ 3.30 GHz
808
Intel Core i7-2600K Intel Core i7-2600K
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
808

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 i3-4360 Intel Core i3-4360
2C 4T @ 3.70 GHz
2001
AMD FX-6200 AMD FX-6200
6C 6T @ 4.10 GHz
1992
Intel Atom x6413E Intel Atom x6413E
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
1988
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
1987
Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
1975
Intel Core i3-8140U Intel Core i3-8140U
2C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
1974
Intel Core i5-2400S Intel Core i5-2400S
4C 4T @ 2.50 GHz
1966

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 Ryzen 7 1700 AMD Ryzen 7 1700
8C 16T @ 3.70 GHz
1117
Intel Core i5-4590S Intel Core i5-4590S
4C 4T @ 3.70 GHz
1116
AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 1700X AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 1700X
8C 16T @ 3.70 GHz
1115
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
1114
MediaTek Dimensity 1200 MediaTek Dimensity 1200
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
1114
Intel Core i5-4570 Intel Core i5-4570
4C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
1114
Intel Core i5-7360U Intel Core i5-7360U
2C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
1112

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 Atom C5325 Intel Atom C5325
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
2418
Intel Core i7-2700K Intel Core i7-2700K
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
2418
Intel Core i7-3770 Intel Core i7-3770
4C 8T @ 3.90 GHz
2418
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
2414
Intel Core i3-8140U Intel Core i3-8140U
2C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
2403
Intel Core i3-4360 Intel Core i3-4360
2C 4T @ 3.70 GHz
2398
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus
8C 8T @ 2.96 GHz
2397

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 i3-6320 Intel Core i3-6320
2C 4T @ 3.90 GHz
4400
Intel Pentium Gold G6505 Intel Pentium Gold G6505
2C 4T @ 4.20 GHz
4400
Intel Pentium Gold G6600 Intel Pentium Gold G6600
2C 4T @ 4.20 GHz
4400
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
4395
AMD FX-4200 AMD FX-4200
4C 4T @ 3.30 GHz
4395
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
4389
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus
8C 8T @ 2.96 GHz
4389

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 i5-4570 Intel Core i5-4570
4C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
140
Intel Core i5-4570S Intel Core i5-4570S
4C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
140
Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3 Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3
4C 4T @ 3.60 GHz
140
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz
139
AMD Athlon 3000G AMD Athlon 3000G
2C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
139
Intel Core i5-8400T Intel Core i5-8400T
6C 6T @ 3.30 GHz
139
Intel Xeon Gold 5119T Intel Xeon Gold 5119T
14C 28T @ 3.20 GHz
139

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 A8-6600K AMD A8-6600K
4C 4T @ 4.20 GHz
306
Intel Core i3-3240 Intel Core i3-3240
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
306
Intel Core i3-3245 Intel Core i3-3245
2C 4T @ 3.40 GHz
306
Intel Core i3-8121U Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz
305
AMD Phenom II X4 B95 AMD Phenom II X4 B95
4C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
304
AMD Phenom II X4 945 AMD Phenom II X4 945
4C 4T @ 3.00 GHz
304
AMD A10-9700 AMD A10-9700
4C 4T @ 3.50 GHz
303

Benchmarks





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