Intel Core i3-8121U

The Intel Core i3-8121U is a power efficient entry-level dual-core processor for laptops. It is the first 10nm CPU from Intel and based on the new Cannon-Lake architecture. It offers 2 processor cores clocked at 2.2 (base) to 3.1 GHz (boost) and no integrated graphics card (therefore 2+0 setup according to Intel). Furthermore, a DDR4-2400 / LPDDR4/x-2400 memory controller (dual-channel, max. 41.6 GB/s, max. 32 GB) is integrated in the SoC.

First benchmarks show a similar performance to the higher clocked Intel Core i3-8130U (2.2 - 3.4 GHz, Kaby Lake, 14nm) and therefore in the entry level for laptops.

The CPU was introduced in the Lenovo IdeaPad-15ICN with a dedicated AMD Radeon RX 540 GPU and also in the Crimson Canyon NUC (also with a dedicated AMD GPU).

Benchmarks

Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit

318 Points (7%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	317.56

AMD A4-1250 -90%

...

Intel Core i5-5257U -4%

Intel Core i5-6300U -3%

Intel Core i7-6500U -3%

AMD Athlon 300U -3%

Intel Core i5-6360U -3%

Intel Core i7-4600M -3%

Intel Core i7-6560U -2%

AMD Ryzen 3 2200U -2%

Intel Core i5-4300M -1%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-4200H 2%

Intel Core i7-6600U 2%

Intel Core i5-7200U 2%

AMD Ryzen 3 3200U 3%

AMD A10-6800K 3%

Intel Core i5-4310M 3%

Intel Core i3-7100H 3%

Intel Core i5-4210H 3%

Intel Core i5-6267U 3%

...

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 1276%

0%

100%

Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit

133 Points (58%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	133

AMD A4-1200 -86%

...

Intel Core i3-7100H -2%

Intel Core i5-6300HQ -2%

Intel Core i5-6267U -2%

Intel Core i7-4710MQ -1%

Intel Core i7-4770HQ -1%

Intel Core i7-4600M -1%

Intel Core i7-4700MQ -1%

Intel Core i7-6650U -1%

Intel Core i7-6560U -1%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-6400 1%

AMD Ryzen 5 1400 1%

AMD Ryzen 3 3300U 1%

Intel Core i7-6770HQ 2%

AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2500U 2%

AMD Ryzen 3 1200 2%

Intel Core i5-4460 2%

Intel Core i7-4720HQ 2%

AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 2%

...

AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT 65%

0%

100%

3DMark 06 - CPU - 3DMark 06 - CPU

4314 Points (29%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	4314

VIA C7-M C7-M-1200 -95%

...

Intel Core i7-6500U -5%

Intel Core i5-4300M -4%

Intel Core i5-5257U -3%

AMD FX-8800P -2%

Intel Core i3-7100H -2%

Intel Core 2 Quad (Desktop) Q9550 -2%

Intel Core i7-4558U -1%

AMD A8-5600K 0%

Intel Core i5-7200U 0%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-750 0%

Intel Core i7-3540M 0%

AMD Ryzen 3 3300U 0%

Intel Core i7-6600U 0%

Intel Core i5-4200H 1%

Intel Core i5-4330M 1%

Intel Core i5-7267U 1%

AMD A8-7650K 2%

Intel Core i7-7500U 3%

...

Intel Core i9-9900KS 245%

0%

100%

3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Physics

4597 Points (21%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	4597

AMD E-240 -94%

...

Intel Core i5-7300U -4%

Intel Core i7-740QM -4%

Intel Core i7-6560U -4%

Intel Core i5-6260U -4%

Intel Core i7-5557U -4%

Intel Core i7-6600U -3%

Intel Core i7-7500U -2%

Intel Core i3-7100H -1%

AMD Ryzen 3 3300U 0%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-6360U 0%

Intel Core i7-3540M 1%

Intel Core i5-6267U 2%

Intel Core i7-840QM 2%

Intel Core i7-7560U 2%

Intel Core i5-7267U 7%

Intel Core i7-6650U 7%

Intel Core i5-750 7%

Intel Core i5-6287U 9%

...

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 357%

0%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics

42050 Points (49%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB			42050

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8625Q -93%

...

Intel Core i7-7Y75 -5%

Apple A12Z Bionic -4%

Intel Core i7-3720QM -4%

Intel Core i7-4750HQ -3%

Intel Core i9-9880H -3%

AMD FX-8350 -3%

Intel Core i5-6267U -2%

Intel Core i5-7200U -1%

HiSilicon Kirin 820 -1%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Xeon E5-2680 v4 1%

AMD Ryzen 3 2200U 1%

Intel Core i7-6600U 3%

Intel Core i7-5500U 4%

Intel Core i7-5600U 5%

Intel Core i7-6560U 5%

Intel Core i5-7267U 6%

Intel Core i7-2600K 6%

Intel Core i7-4710HQ 6%

...

AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT 100%

0%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Physics

min: 3125     avg: 3287     median: 3286.5 (8%)     max: 3448 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB			3125
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	3448

Intel Atom x7-Z8700 -93%

...

Intel Core i5-4300M -5%

Intel Core i5-5350U -4%

Intel Core i3-6100H -4%

Intel Core i7-4600M -4%

Intel Core i5-6260U -2%

AMD Athlon 300U -2%

Intel Core i9-9900T -1%

Intel Core i7-5500U 0%

AMD A10-6800K 0%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-6267U 0%

Intel Core i7-6500U 1%

Intel Core i5-4310M 1%

Intel Core i5-6300U 1%

Intel Core i7-5600U 2%

AMD Ryzen 3 3200U 2%

Intel Core i5-4200H 2%

Intel Core i5-4210H 3%

Intel Core i7-3520M 3%

...

Intel Core i9-10900K 512%

0%

100%

3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Physics

5127 Points (16%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Intel NUC8i3CYSM	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB	1124 /  MHz	2048MB	5127

AMD A6-9220e -93%

...

Intel Core i5-4210H -6%

Intel Core i5-4200H -5%

Intel Core i5-7200U -5%

Intel Core i7-5600U -4%

Intel Core i7-3540M -3%

Intel Core i7-6560U -2%

Intel Core i5-7300U -1%

Intel Core i7-6600U -1%

AMD Ryzen 3 3200U -1%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i5-5257U 0%

Intel Core i3-7100H 1%

Intel Core i5-7267U 1%

Intel Core i7-5650U 1%

Intel Core i3-10110U 3%

Intel Core i7-7600U 5%

Intel Core i7-6650U 5%

Intel Core i7-7500U 5%

Intel Core i5-6287U 5%

...

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 524%

0%

100%

Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1+ 64 Bit Single-Core

4195 points (62%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB			4195

Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 APQ8009 -90%

...

Intel Core i5-6287U -2%

AMD Ryzen 7 3750H -2%

Intel Core i7-5700HQ -2%

Intel Core i5-8250U -1%

Intel Core i5-7260U -1%

Intel Core m3-8100Y -1%

Intel Core i5-8210Y -1%

Intel Core i5-7267U 0%

Intel Core i5-8350U 0%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i3-8145U 0%

Intel Core i5-7300U 1%

Apple A11 Bionic 1%

AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 1%

AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 2%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 2%

AMD Ryzen 5 1500X 2%

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3%

Intel Core i5-6350HQ 3%

...

Intel Core i7-1165G7 57%

0%

100%

Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1+ 64 Bit Multi-Core

7985 points (14%)

+ 1 benchmarks and specifications- 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN	Radeon RX 540	8192 MB			7985

AMD E1-2100 -87%

...

Intel Core i5-7Y57 -6%

AMD Ryzen 7 2700U -5%

Mediatek Helio G90T -3%

Intel Core i7-5557U -3%

Intel Core i7-6560U -3%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 -2%

HiSilicon Kirin 810 -1%

Intel Core i3-8130U -1%

Intel Core i5-8200Y -1%

Intel Core i3-8121U

Intel Core i3-8145U 1%

Intel Core i5-7300U 4%

Intel Core i7-6567U 4%

Intel Core i5-6287U 4%

Intel Core i7-7600U 4%

Intel Core i3-10110U 4%

Intel Core i5-7260U 7%

AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 2300U 8%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 9%

...

Intel Core i9-9980XE 591%

0%

100%

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Reviews for the Intel Core i3 i3-8121U processor

Intel NUC8i3CYSM (AMD Radeon RX 540, ")
» Intel NUC8i3CYSM Review - Review

Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN (AMD Radeon RX 540, 15.6")
» Lenovo IdeaPad 330-15ICN - External Review

Other CPUs of the series Core i3

Surrounding CPUs