Legit Reviews

Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Sandy Bridge Processor Review

Last week when we reviewed the AMD A-Series Llano A8-3850 APU we had some readers wanting to see more Intel Sandy Bridge processors in the benchmarks. One of the processors that we were asked about was the Intel Core i3-2120, which retails for $149.68 and is one of the most popular budget-minded processors in the Intel arsenal today. We heard you and have a retail boxed Intel Core i3-2120 processor to see how it performs against the Intel Core i3-2105, Core i7-2600k and the AMD A8-3850 APU!

The Intel Core i3-2120 is a very capable processor for the $149.68 price tag that online retailers are asking for it. It was able to do everything we asked it to during testing and the test system felt just as fast and responsive on the desktop as the higher-end Core i7-2600K processor. It was only when we got deep into the benchmarking that we were able to find the strengths and weaknesses of the Core i3-2120...

Article Title: Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Sandy Bridge Processor Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1650/1/
Pricing at Time of Print: $149.68 shipped

I like the APUs for those really really cheap PCs you see at a Best Buy, because it will put out more PCs capable of gaming.

But how does it make sense if you are building to not put in the extra $70 for a add in card and get the much faster Intel CPU, or hopefully Bulldozer CPU. To me Llano's desktop performance just does not seem good enough to warrant its use for anything but prebuilt.

Sttm wrote:I like the APUs for those really really cheap PCs you see at a Best Buy, because it will put out more PCs capable of gaming.

But how does it make sense if you are building to not put in the extra $70 for a add in card and get the much faster Intel CPU, or hopefully Bulldozer CPU. To me Llano's desktop performance just does not seem good enough to warrant its use for anything but prebuilt.

Agreed... I don't think the world is made up of gamers and non-gamers any more though... You don't classify people as movie goers or car drivers anymore when talking amongst others. I think everyone is a gamer and should be assumed for everyone. The line that can't be made though is when do you need a graphics card? There is no line in the sand that says when, but one thing is certain the A-Series APUs is a step in the right direction for a general use computer.

Personally, I think that Intel needs to re-think or re-design their IGP sector. As even basic games like Minecraft, Audiosurf, Braid, Battlefield Heroes, Quake Live, Team Fortress 2, or Spiral Knights do not play well with the Intel GMA HD or Intel HD 2000 / 3000.
Which is just horrendous in this day and age.

High Bitrate HD Films (like intense parts of action movies) also show visual lag or "cross rendering" (which is where 1 image is rendered on top of another.)

Personally, if I was looking to build a system for someone, I'd most likely choose the AMD APU just for the fact that for Entertainment use (like HD Youtube, HD Hulu, Netlfix, and basic games) work just fine; and the system is also fast enough for even the higher level productivity work (Like Adobe Dreamweaver, Database work, and Office work.)

The last 3 systems I built for folks though; I spent less on the CPU and instead invested in an SSD. Most folks won't need faster than a Core i3 or A3850; but you slap in a 64GB Sandforce SF-1200 drive in there and it's like night and day in terms of system snappiness.