Core i3-8109U vs Core i5-10210Y

The Core i3-8109U packs 2 cores / 4 threads, while the Core i5-10210Y offers 4 cores / 8 threads — the Core i5-10210Y has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.6 GHz on the Core i3-8109U versus 4 GHz on the Core i5-10210Y — a 10.5% clock advantage for the Core i5-10210Y (base: 3 GHz vs 1 GHz). The Core i3-8109U uses the Coffee Lake-U (2018−2019) architecture (14 nm), while the Core i5-10210Y uses Comet Lake-Y (2019) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Core i3-8109U scores 4,184 against the Core i5-10210Y's 4,131 — a 1.3% lead for the Core i3-8109U. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,100 vs 1,079, a 1.9% lead for the Core i3-8109U that directly translates to higher frame rates. L3 cache: 4 MB (total) on the Core i3-8109U vs 6 MB (total) on the Core i5-10210Y.

The Core i3-8109U uses the FCBGA1528 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Core i5-10210Y uses UTFCBGA1377 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR4-2400 on the Core i3-8109U versus LPDDR3 2133 MHz on the Core i5-10210Y — the Core i5-10210Y supports 200% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Core i3-8109U supports up to 32 GB of RAM compared to 16 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i3-8109U) vs 10 (Core i5-10210Y) — the Core i3-8109U offers 6 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Neither processor supports overclocking. Virtualization support: VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i3-8109U) vs true (Core i5-10210Y). Both include integrated graphics — Iris Plus Graphics 655 (Core i3-8109U) and Intel UHD Graphics 615 (Core i5-10210Y) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i3-8109U targets Performance Laptop, Core i5-10210Y targets Mobile Low Power. Direct competitor: Core i3-8109U rivals Ryzen 3 3200U.