Intel Core i3 Processor i3-2120 3.3GHz 3MB LGA1155 CPU
$ 112.99
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Intel Core i3-2120 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 – BX80623I32120
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3 thoughts on “Intel Core i3-2120 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 – BX80623I32120”
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Fast, powerful, efficient, inexpensive,
I purchased this Intel i3 CPU to use in a server running Mac OS X 10.7, and I have to say, like the other reviews for this product, I am very impressed. When in use, the CPU temperature is about 90° Fahrenheit, which is quite cool. The performance is fast, nothing to brag about like an i5 or i7, but it’s great for my purposes. It runs well, and paired with the Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 motherboard and 8GB of gaming RAM, makes a great Mac server for under $250.
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|Hyperthreading and 7.1 on WEI (Careful With the Cooler’s Push-Pins…),
Pros:
– Extremely fast dual core CPU
– Includes hyper-threading
– 7.1 out of 7.9 on WEI
– Stock Intel cooler is fairly quiet
Cons:
– No turbo-boost
– Stock Intel cooler has somewhat troublesome plastic push-pin mechanisms that hold the cooler to the motherboard. When installing these I carefully tried to apply the same amount of pressure to each pin, but one pin went in too far and seemed to break pretty easily. I thought I damaged my CPU and motherboard. Luckily I did not, but now that push-pin will not come out. It seems I will probably have to carefully cut the plastic pin off if I ever want to remove the cooler and/or the CPU.
I still believe the stock cooler works fairly well as it is quiet and every time I check the BIOS it seems to be keeping the CPU temperature consistently low. The installation issue with the pins could be attributed to me not being careful enough, but I feel the pins are not designed very well and that one of them could have been defective. Regardless of the cooler, the CPU itself deserves at least 4 stars for it’s performance even without turbo-boost or overclocking capability.
Some of my reasoning for buying this product:
Diablo III is finally being released and I was long overdue for a new computer anyways (was running a Pentium 4 with Windows XP Pro…very sad I know). Obviously an i3 (1st or 2nd gen) is a gargantuan leap over the Pentium 4…but some people may not realize that the i3 completely blows the Diablo III minimum CPU specifications out of the water and turns the water into vapor. But still…
After purchasing my i3-2120 I started worrying it was already obsolete and maybe I should have sprung for a i5-2500K because of all the overclocking hype. After all, Intel themselves say the i3 is only smart, while the i7 is a genius.
How much more performance do you really get from a i5 or i7 quad core processor? Well according to the Windows Experience Index, it might not be as much as you think. After Windows Experience Index scored my i3-2120 at 7.1 (on a scale of 1 – 7.9) I started to really doubt that the i5 or i7 were really worth the cost to performance increase ($100+ extra for .1 – .8 more on the WEI scale). For the time being, the extra cost most likely isn’t worth it for most computer users and gamers.
Like many other reviews state, most current software, even popular new games like Diablo III (#1 selling game on Amazon, 737 days in Top 100) are really only going to utilize single and/or dual core threading; and if in fact there is more threads needed, the i3 has hyper-threading capability which is described as having two virtual cores running with the two physical cores to enable quad core type threading.
When the cost of 2nd generation quad core Intel CPUs goes down and the majority of software being produced actually utilizes quad core CPUs then I will believe they are worth my extra hard earned cash. By then Diablo IV will be out and I will have had AT LEAST a few years of exceptional performance and quality use from a $127 Intel CPU.
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|Great little work horse,
The I3 2120 is a great processor for an office environment or budget build. I just finished installing 5 custom Built computers at an alarm company and with their specialized software, hardware, combined with Microsoft Office, and Symantec Anti-virus this little processor has more than enough power to do anything they throw at it for the next few years. It runs cool just over 85F using stock heat sink and two case fans. I also have an I3 3Ghz in my business laptop which I use to run Windows 7 Ultimate, Office 2010 Pro Plus, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, edit audio/ video files and create websites. The laptop runs like a champ with the I3 processor and 4GB of ram.
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