Intel Core i3-3120M Mobiler SR0TX 2.4GHz 2 Kern 3MB L3 PGA988B

The Intel Core i3-3120M is a mobile dual-core processor and is based on the Ivy Bridge architecture. Thanks to Hyperthreading, the 2 cores can process up to 4 threads simultaneously. In contrast to its predecessor Sandy Bridge, which was still produced in 32 nanometres, it is manufactured in a smaller 22 nanometre process with 3D transistors. With 2.5 GHz (no CPU turbo), the i3-3120M clocks 100 MHz faster than the i3-3110M and has a 3 MB L3 cache.

Ivy Bridge is a die shrink of the Sandy Bridge architecture, which has only been improved in a few places. Among other things, PCI Express in the new version 3.0 and DDR3(L)-1600 are now supported. Compared to the higher-end i5 and i7 models, the Core i3 has to do without AES-NI and CPU Turbo.

The performance of the i3-3120M is about 5% higher than a clock-equivalent model of the Sandy Bridge architecture due to minor improvements in per-MHz performance. Compared to the i3-2370M, the processor is thus about 5 to 10 percent faster. The performance is sufficient to master even demanding applications or current 3D games in most cases.

The Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated in the processor with 16 so-called Execution Units (EUs) is responsible for the graphics output. Using Turbo mode, the output clock rate can increase from 650 MHz to 1100 MHz. Due to the low clock rate, the chip only just reaches the graphics solution of AMD's Llano (Radeon HD 6620G as the fastest model).

Like most dual-core models in the Sandy Bridge series, the i3-3120M has a TDP of 35 watts, which also includes the graphics unit. This makes the CPU best suited for notebooks from 14 inches upwards