Intel Core i7-2720QM vs Intel Core i7-3612QE Comparison

The Intel Core i7-3612QE sweeps the Intel Core i7-2720QM across every shared benchmark in the database, winning all five head-to-head tests by a consistent margin of roughly 16 percent. That uniformity is the story here: despite running at a lower thermal envelope and lower rated clocks, the newer Ivy Bridge part delivers a decisive generational uplift over the Sandy Bridge flagship-class mobile chip it effectively replaced. With an average benchmark score of 1147 against 1128, and percentile placements of 33 versus 32 against all CPUs in the database, the two sit in the same overall neighborhood, but the recorded data shows the 3612QE is meaningfully faster in every measurable workload category.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Every shared test favors the i7-3612QE, and the margin barely moves from test to test, which points to a genuine architectural advantage rather than a benchmark-specific quirk.

• Cinebench R15 Multi-Core: 399 vs 344, a 16 percent win for the 3612QE. This is the largest multi-core sample in the R15 set and the older Sandy Bridge chip simply cannot keep pace.
• Cinebench R20 Multi-Core: 1666 vs 1435, a 16.1 percent advantage. Rendering throughput scales directly with the Ivy Bridge improvements.
• Cinebench R20 Single-Core: 235 vs 202, a 16.3 percent gap. Single-threaded performance, often the hardest to move between generations, improves by nearly as much as multi-threaded throughput.
• Cinebench R23 Multi-Core: 3967 vs 3417, a 16.1 percent lead. The pattern holds in the newest Cinebench revision in the dataset.
• Cinebench R23 Single-Core: 560 vs 482, a 16.2 percent win. The 3612QE's single-core score is the strongest number either chip posts in shared tests.

The 2720QM posts zero wins across the head-to-head set. The i7-2720QM does have two additional recorded results, Geekbench multi-core at 1535 and Geekbench single-core at 484, but there is no corresponding Geekbench entry for the 3612QE in the database, so no direct comparison can be drawn from those figures.

For context against the wider database, the 3612QE's average score of 1147 places it essentially dead even with rivals such as the AMD Opteron 4284 (1146, delta 0.1 percent), the Intel Core i7-2600S (1146, delta 0.1 percent), the Intel Core i5-4430 (1149, delta -0.2 percent), and the AMD Opteron 4332 HE (1144, delta 0.3 percent). The 2720QM's average of 1128 lands it beside the Intel Core i5-3330S (1128, delta 0 percent), the Intel Core i3-1115GRE (1127, delta 0.1 percent), the Intel Core i7-3612QM (1129, delta -0.1 percent), and the Intel Core i5-4690T (1129, delta -0.1 percent). Both chips occupy the same performance tier of the historical record, but the 3612QE holds the top spot in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster overall?

A: The Intel Core i7-3612QE. It wins all five shared benchmarks against the i7-2720QM, with margins ranging from 16 percent (Cinebench R15 multi-core) to 16.3 percent (Cinebench R20 single-core).

Q: Is the single-core performance difference significant?

A: Yes. The 3612QE scores 235 versus 202 in Cinebench R20 single-core and 560 versus 482 in Cinebench R23 single-core, gaps of 16.3 and 16.2 percent respectively. Older or lightly threaded applications benefit almost as much as modern heavily threaded software.

Q: Which chip runs in a lower power envelope?

A: The 3612QE, with a TDP of 35 W versus 45 W for the 2720QM. It delivers its 16 percent performance advantage while drawing a lower rated thermal envelope.

Q: Do the two CPUs have the same core and cache configuration?

A: Yes. Both are quad-core, eight-thread parts with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 6 MB of shared L3 cache. The differences lie in architecture, process node, clocks, and power rating, not in core counts or cache sizes.

Q: Which integrated graphics are better?

A: The database lists Intel HD 4000 for the 3612QE and Intel HD 3000 for the 2720QM. The HD 4000 is the newer generation, appearing on the Ivy Bridge part, while the HD 3000 belongs to the Sandy Bridge generation.

Q: Are either of these CPUs still in production?

A: The i7-2720QM is listed as end-of-life. The database lists no production status for the i7-3612QE.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap explains the benchmark sweep. The i7-3612QE is built on Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture, fabricated at Intel on a 22 nm process, packing 1,400 million transistors into a 160 mm² die. The i7-2720QM uses the older Sandy Bridge architecture, fabricated at Intel on a 32 nm process, with 1,160 million transistors on a larger 216 mm² die.

The numbers tell a compact story: the newer chip fits more transistors into a smaller die. That density gain is the foundation of the 16 percent across-the-board performance advantage, achieved while cutting the TDP from 45 W to 35 W. The transistor count difference of 240 million in the 3612QE's favor, combined with a die that is 56 mm² smaller, illustrates how much the node transition contributed.

The integrated graphics also advance a generation, from HD 3000 on Sandy Bridge to HD 4000 on Ivy Bridge. The release dates frame the gap: the 2720QM launched in January 2011, while the 3612QE followed in April 2012, roughly a generation later in Intel's cadence.

Specification Differences

The two chips share a great deal, so the differences are worth isolating precisely:

• Base Clock: 2.10 GHz for the 3612QE versus 2.20 GHz for the 2720QM, a slight edge on paper for the older chip.
• Boost Clock: 3.10 GHz for the 3612QE versus 3.30 GHz for the 2720QM, again nominally higher for the Sandy Bridge part.
• TDP: 35 W for the 3612QE versus 45 W for the 2720QM.
• Socket: Intel BGA 1023 for the 3612QE versus Intel BGA 1224 for the 2720QM. The two are not socket-compatible.
• Process Node: 22 nm (Ivy Bridge) versus 32 nm (Sandy Bridge).
• Transistors: 1,400 million versus 1,160 million.
• Die Size: 160 mm² versus 216 mm².
• Integrated Graphics: Intel HD 4000 versus Intel HD 3000.
• Production Status: Not listed for the 3612QE; end-of-life for the 2720QM.
• Part Number: SR0ND versus SR00W.

Everything else lines up identically: four cores, eight threads, dual-channel memory bus, no ECC support, a locked multiplier on both, and identical cache hierarchies at every level. The critical observation is that the 2720QM carries higher rated base and boost clocks yet loses every benchmark by roughly 16 percent. The 3612QE's performance-per-clock advantage more than compensates for its frequency deficit.

Where Each One Wins

Intel Core i7-3612QE wins: every shared benchmark in the database. Multi-core rendering (R15: 399 vs 344, R20: 1666 vs 1435, R23: 3967 vs 3417), single-core responsiveness (R20: 235 vs 202, R23: 560 vs 482), and efficiency, given that it achieves this while operating at a 35 W TDP rather than 45 W. Workloads of every threading profile, from legacy single-threaded applications to fully saturated all-core rendering, favor the Ivy Bridge chip. It also carries the newer HD 4000 integrated graphics.

Intel Core i7-2720QM wins: nothing in the recorded head-to-head data. Its only nominal advantages are the higher base and boost clock ratings, which do not translate into any benchmark victories. The database does hold Geekbench results for the 2720QM (1535 multi-core, 484 single-core) that have no 3612QE counterpart, but absence of comparison data is not a win.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the Intel Core i7-3612QE is the superior processor in every measurable respect. It is roughly 16 percent faster in every shared Cinebench test, single-core and multi-core alike, while operating at a lower TDP, on a more advanced process node, with newer integrated graphics and a denser, smaller die. Anyone choosing between the two for performance, efficiency, or graphical capability should pick the 3612QE without hesitation.

The i7-2720QM's case rests entirely on context rather than measurements. It is the older of the two, listed as end-of-life, uses a different socket (BGA 1224 versus BGA 1023, so the chips cannot be swapped), and carries higher clock ratings that produce lower results. Its database percentile of 32 versus the 3612QE's 33 confirms both sit in the same historical tier, with the 3612QE on top. In a direct comparison strictly from the recorded data, there is no workload category in which the 2720QM prevails: the sweep belongs to the Intel Core i7-3612QE.