Intel Core i3-12100 vs Intel Core i3-550

Core i3-12100 vs Core i3-550 comparison

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i3-12100 performs better than the Core i3-550. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i3-550 in all gaming tests too.

With info from our database, we find that the Core i3-12100 has significantly more cores with 4 cores whereas the Core i3-550 has 2 cores. It also has more threads than the Core i3-550. With our hardware info, we find that the Core i3-12100 has a slightly higher clock speed than the Core i3-550. A Core i3-12100 CPU outputs less heat than a Core i3-550 CPU because of its slightly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption.

Most CPUs have more threads than cores. This technology, colloquially called hyperthreading, improves performance by splitting a core into multiple virtual ones. This provides more efficient utilisation of a core. Indeed, the Core i3-12100 has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.