AMD Athlon Silver 7120U vs Intel Core i5-8250U

Processor comparisons 03-03-2023

   If you can't decide which processor to buy, you can make a decision by looking at the AMD Athlon Silver 7120U vs Intel Core i5-8250U tests and see which is better for games or simple use for video editing, streaming, programming, machine learning, rendering. Here is all information from real video editing and streaming tests or different benchmarks. A careful review of all the specifications, to make it easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint testing in synthetic type tests like 7zip, SuperPi, GeekBench 6, 5.2, Handbrake, 3DMark, Dolphin Emulator, Furmark, Blender, VeraCrypt, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Gears 5, UserBenchmark, PassMark, MATLAB, Blender, Prime95, WPrime, AIDA64, PCMark 10, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), RealBench.
   Gaming performance of CPUs in:

Death Stranding
Last Man Standing
Borderlands 3
Valheim
Watch Dogs Legion
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Red Dead Redemption 2
Overwatch
Grand Theft Auto V
Apex Legends
DOOM: Eternal
Halo Infinite
Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare
Fallout 76
Cyberpunk 2077
Rainbow Six Siege
Fortnite
Valorant

After reading the results of parallel benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which processor is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i5-8250U or AMD Athlon Silver 7120U.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Athlon Silver 7120U

51%

Core i5-8250U

51%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Athlon Silver 7120U

51%

Core i5-8250U

52%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because this processor costs several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a small game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the final table below.
List of less popular games in which processors were compared: Hitman 3, Forza Horizon 4, Battlefield V, Horizon Zero Dawn, Monster Hunter World, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Metro Exodus, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), League of Legends (LOL), DOTA 2A, Ghostrunner, Half-Life: Alyx, Control, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, NBA 2K20.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	90.3	91.6
Valorant	102.7	104.0
Cyberpunk 2077	57.5	58.3
Apex Legends	96.5	97.8
Call of Duty Warzone	77.0	78.0
Overwatch	83.2	84.3
Red Dead Redemption 2	70.8	71.8
DOOM Eternal	51.3	52.0
Warzone	80.1	81.2
Assassin's Creed	86.2	87.4
Valheim	85.2	86.4

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The computers that were in the comparisons not only did they have different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K or FullHD. So the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. You will get more accurate information about how powerful the processor will be in games, if you compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Athlon Silver 7120U

212%

Core i5-8250U

199%

To make a final decision on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. It is clear that the newer the generation, the better the performance of the processor in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Athlon Silver 7120U is more energy efficient than the Core i5-8250U since it has less power consumption: 15W vs. 15W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, you need to know its TDP. It is necessary to count so that the TDP data specified in the cooler specification is greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

For example you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for video editing or video rendering, programming, machine learning, streaming, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to achieve maximum efficiency, the processor turns on all threads and cores that it has. You will find out this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to check whether the program you are going to use on your computer supports multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that use only one core to run, and all the benefit of multi-core mode are unused.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Athlon Silver 7120U	Intel Core i5-8250U
Cinbench 15 Single-core	107	157
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	505	549
Cinbench 20 Single-core	248	348
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	1082	1509
Cinbench 23 Single-core	618	897
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	2923	3118

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Athlon Silver 7120U	Intel Core i5-8250U
Single-Core	2283	1990
Multi-Core	5142	6011

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Athlon Silver 7120U	Intel Core i5-8250U
Single-Core	958	896
Multi-Core	2294	3494

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the processor release date and overclocking capability will be the most useful. The newer the processor, the longer it will last you. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same can be said about overclocking. If the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS even in the newest games. Accordingly, you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The savings are obvious!

	AMD Athlon Silver 7120U	Intel Core i5-8250U
Announcement date	September 20, 2022	April 01, 2017
Type	Laptop	Laptop
Socket	FP6	FC-BGA1356
Core name	Mendocino	Kaby Lake R
Architecture	Zen 2	x86
Generation	2	8
Turbo Frequency	3.5 MHz	3.4 MHz
Frequency	2.4 MHz	1.6 MHz
Cores	2	4
Threads	2	8
Bus rate		4 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	6 nm	14 nm
Transistors count	3200 millions	1640 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	15 W	15 W
Memory type	LPDDR5	DDR4-2400, LPDDR3-2133
Max. Memory		32 Gb
Memory Frequency	5500
Memory bandwidth		37.5 GB/s
L1 cache	256KB
L2 cache	1MB
L3 cache	2MB	6 MB
Overclocking	No	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	100-000000772

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Athlon Silver 7120U is 33% better than Core i5-8250U in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Core i5-8250U has 2 more core than Athlon Silver 7120U. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Athlon Silver 7120U is better: 10
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i5-8250U is better: 27
Although it should be understood that all the figures in the text above do not mean that you should be guided entirely by them and trust a simple comparison of these numbers. Be sure to watch benchmarks video and read the reviews of real owners of AMD Athlon Silver 7120U and Intel Core i5-8250U before making a decision which of the processors to buy for gaming.

AMD Athlon Silver 7120U - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• AMD Athlon Silver 7120U specs and review.

• Intel Core i5-8250U specs and review.