Skip to content
InnoReviews

Intel Core 5 120U vs Intel Core i3-1215U

WINNER
Intel Core 5 120U
51.6Inno Score
VS
Intel Core i3-1215U
45.4Inno Score
59.8Single-core50.7
36.2Multi-core28.9
75.3Efficiencyspec-based75.3
—iGPU48.2
50.3Platformspec-based43.3
13 spec wins — Intel Core 5 120U0 spec wins — Intel Core i3-1215U

InnoReviews verdict

Intel Core 5 120U wins this laptop processor face-off, 51.6 to 45.4, pulling ahead mainly in single-core (+9) and multi-core (+7). Intel Core i3-1215U still makes sense if its price or standout specs fit your needs better.

Which would you pick?

Key differences

Reasons to pick the Intel Core 5 120U

  • Stronger single-core score: 60 vs 51
  • Stronger multi-core score: 36 vs 29
  • 100% higher Efficiency cores: 8 vs 4
  • 74% higher Geekbench 6 (multi): 9,070 vs 5,213
  • 67% higher cores: 10 vs 6

Reasons to pick the Intel Core i3-1215U

No decisive spec advantages — this side competes on price and preference.

General

General comparison: Intel Core 5 120U versus Intel Core i3-1215U
SpecIntel Core 5 120UIntel Core i3-1215U
Announced20242022
Process10 nm10 nm
Base TDP15 W15 W
Max TDP55 W55 W

Cores & Clocks

Cores & Clocks comparison: Intel Core 5 120U versus Intel Core i3-1215U
SpecIntel Core 5 120UIntel Core i3-1215U
Cores10+67%6
Performance cores22
Efficiency cores8+100%4
Threads12+50%8
Base clock1.4 GHz+17%1.2 GHz
Boost clock5 GHz+14%4.4 GHz
L3 cache12 MB+20%10 MB

Integrated GPU

Integrated GPU comparison: Intel Core 5 120U versus Intel Core i3-1215U
SpecIntel Core 5 120UIntel Core i3-1215U
iGPUIntel Iris Xe (80 EU)Intel UHD Graphics (64 EU)
iGPU clock1,300 MHz1,100 MHz

Memory

Memory comparison: Intel Core 5 120U versus Intel Core i3-1215U
SpecIntel Core 5 120UIntel Core i3-1215U
Memory supportLPDDR5X-5200 / DDR5-5200 / DDR4-3200 / LPDDR4X-4267LPDDR5-5200 / DDR5-4800 / DDR4-3200 / LPDDR4X-4267
Max memory96 GB+50%64 GB

Benchmarks

Benchmarks comparison: Intel Core 5 120U versus Intel Core i3-1215U
SpecIntel Core 5 120UIntel Core i3-1215U
Geekbench 6 (single)2,469+19%Bottom 50%2,082Bottom 24%
Geekbench 6 (multi)9,070+74%Bottom 33%5,213Bottom 10%
Cinebench R23 (single)1,757+16%Top 45%1,512Bottom 32%
Cinebench R23 (multi)6,659+29%Bottom 19%5,182Bottom 16%
PassMark14,877+48%Bottom 30%10,082Bottom 20%
3DMark Time Spy Graphics (iGPU)—1,067Bottom 39%

Related comparisons

Intel Core 5 120Uvs Intel Core i7-13620HVSIntel Core 5 120Uvs Intel Core i7-1360PVSIntel Core 5 120Uvs Intel Core Ultra 7 155UVSIntel Core 5 120Uvs Intel Core i7-1355UVSIntel Core i3-1215Uvs Intel Core i5-13420HVSIntel Core i3-1215Uvs AMD Ryzen 7 5700UVSIntel Core i3-1215Uvs Intel Core i7-1185G7VSIntel Core i3-1215Uvs Intel Core i7-11800HVS

Try another matchup