Low-End Intel Sandy Bridge Desktop CPUs Work at 3.3 GHz

Since Intel released high-end and mainstream processors, it makes sense that it would also offer some models for the entry-level market, so the existence of the Core i3 2100 series may not come as too much of a surprise to anyone.

As consumers know, the Santa Clara, California-based CPU giant just unleashed its next-generation series of central processing units, the so-called 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family.

Already the high-end, highly overclockable Core i7-2600 and Core i5-2500 processors have been detailed, as were the mainstream Core i5 chips.

All of them had a TDP of 95W, four cores, a cache memory of 6 MB or 8 MB, the Turbo Boost technology and a multiplier that lets them be overclocked.

It is in all these respects that the two desktop low-end chips are different from their siblings.

The models in question are known by the names of Core i3-2120 and Core i3-2100, both of them featuring two cores and four threads.

They have a lower TDP (thermal design power) than the others, of 65W to be exact, as well as a cache memory of just 3 MB.

What they lack most is overclocking potential. In fact, they lack any sort of overclocking capability altogether, being bereft of a multiplier and even Turbo Boost.

On the bright side, Intel made sure than the base clock frequencies were higher than even those of the Core i5-2400 and 2300, respectively.

To be more accurate, the Core i3-2120 operates at 3.3 GHz, while its smaller sibling has a speed of 2.93 GHz.

Finally, like the mainstream and the non-K high-end models, the entry-level components boast the Intel GMA HD 2000 graphics, whose frequency is of 1,100 MHz.

They should both start to get listed online soon, if they haven't already, for the prices of $138 (Core i3-2120) and $117 (2100).