Intel Core i5-6300HQ vs Intel Core i3-2120

Core i5-6300HQ vs Core i3-2120 comparison

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i5-6300HQ performs better than the Core i3-2120. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i3-2120 in all gaming tests too.

When comparing core counts for these CPUs, we notice that the Core i5-6300HQ has significantly more cores with 4 cores compared to the Core i3-2120 that has 2 cores. But they both have the same number of threads. Our comparison shows that the Core i3-2120 has a significantly higher clock speed compared to the Core i5-6300HQ. A Core i5-6300HQ CPU outputs less heat than a Core i3-2120 CPU because of its significantly 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. For instance, the Core i5-6300HQ has the same number of threads as cores. This means the the CPU does not support hyperthreading.