Intel Core i9-9980HK vs Intel Core i3-1215U

Compare Intel 9th Generation Core i9 8 core CPU vs Intel 12th Generation Core i3 6 core processor, specs and benchmark score. Which is the better CPU for gaming?

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Benchmark Score

Overall Score

A combined score of all workloads

3558 points
8% slightly better overall score
3288 points

Gaming Score

The raw gaming performance with a fast GPU

4626 points
5718 points
23% slightly better gaming score

Multitasking Score

Performance in workloads using up to 8 cores

3403 points
31% slightly better multitasking score
2595 points

Heavy Workload Score

Performance in workloads using up to 16 cores

3616 points
45% significantly better heavy workload score
2480 points

Free CPU Benchmark

Want to compare your processor against the Core i9-9980HK and the Core i3-1215U? Download our free and quick PC Performance Test.

Other Benchmarks

Blender score

Blender score

Cycles Render (Samples per minute)

132.90 points
132% significantly higher Blender score
57.10 points
Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

6312 points
28% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (multi) score
4916 points
Geekbench 5 (single) score

Geekbench 5 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

1386 points
1875 points
35% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (single) score
Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

6310 points
30% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (multi) score
4826 points
Geekbench 6 (single) score

Geekbench 6 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

1411 points
1815 points
28% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (single) score

Specifications

Cores

Number of physical processing units

8
33% slightly more cores
6

Threads

Number of logical processing units

16
100% significantly more threads
8

Clock Speed

Base frequency at which the chip operates

2.4 GHz
100% significantly higher clock speed
1.2 GHz

Turbo Speed

Higher frequency used for heavy workloads

5 GHz
13% slightly higher turbo speed
4.4 GHz

TDP

Thermal Design Power: Measure of heat generated by the CPU

45 W
15 W
200% significantly lower TDP

PCIe Lanes

Number of physical connections between the CPU and expansion slots

16
20
25% slightly more pcie lanes

Memory Channels

Lanes for simultaneous memory access

2
Identical
2

Supported Memory

Maximum amount of RAM supported by this CPU

128 GiB
100% significantly more supported memory
64 GiB

L1 Cache

Smallest embedded memory, but the fastest

512 KiB
6% slightly more L1 cache
480 KiB

L2 Cache

Secondary embedded memory, slower than L1 cache

2 MiB
4.5 MiB
125% significantly more L2 cache

L3 Cache

General memory pool for all cores

16 MiB
60% significantly more L3 cache
10 MiB

Other details

Rank

Ranking in the hardwareDB database

480th of 1,089
501st of 1,089

Family

The product line

9th Generation Core i9
12th Generation Core i3

Release date

The official date of release of this chip

2019 May
2022 February

Memory Type

The type of memory used by this chip

DDR4-2666
DDR5-4800

Is Unlocked

Can this CPU can be overclocked

Yes
No

Supports ECC memory

Does this CPU support error correcting memory

No
No

Core i9-9980HK vs Core i3-1215U specs and performance

According to the hardwareDB Benchmark tool, the Core i9-9980HK is faster than the Core i3-1215U. Despite this, the Core i3-1215U has the advantage in our gaming benchmark.

In terms of the number of cores of each of these CPUs, the Core i9-9980HK has slightly more cores than the Core i3-1215U. Indeed, the Core i9-9980HK has 8 cores compared to 6 cores found in the Core i3-1215U. It also has more threads than the Core i3-1215U. With our hardware info, we find that the Core i9-9980HK has a significantly higher clock speed than the Core i3-1215U. Also, the Core i9-9980HK has a slightly higher turbo speed. The Core i3-1215U outputs less heat than Core i9-9980HK thanks to a significantly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption. The cache sizes of these CPUs are different. Indeed, the Core i3-1215U has significantly more L2 cache than the Core i9-9980HK. Despite this, the Core i9-9980HK has significantly more L3 cache compared to the Core i3-1215U.

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 i9-9980HK has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.

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