Intel Core i5 10400 vs i3 12100

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 10400 with 6-cores against the 3.3 GHz i3 12100 with 4-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
🔌 Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click “Calculate".
Currency
VS
27.2
(Mediocre)
Value Index
65.8
(Good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12100 and 10400
Advantages of Intel Core i5 10400
  • Has 2 more physical cores
Advantages of Intel Core i3 12100
  • Around 35.2 GB/s (85%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • 48% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2215 vs 1499 points
  • More modern manufacturing process – 10 versus 14 nanometers
  • Newer - released 1 year and 8 months later
  • More powerful Intel UHD Graphics 730 integrated graphics: 0.5 vs 0.4 TFLOPS

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
2215
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
7427
File compression 438.2 MB/sec 631.3 MB/sec
Clang compilation 47.1 Klines/sec 46.7 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 137.5 pages/sec 170.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 201.7 Mpixels/sec 201.3 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 148.5 pages/sec 222.5 pages/sec
Background blur 33.2 images/sec 39.3 images/sec
Photo processing 54.5 images/sec 68.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 9.62 Mpixels/sec 10.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 442 & 979 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
3241
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
12506
Integer math 41.7 GOps/sec 37 GOps/sec
Floating point math 26.1 GOps/sec 29 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 33M Primes/sec 49M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 23.2M Strings/sec 14.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 4 GBytes/sec 7.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 186.9 MBytes/sec 146.2 MBytes/sec
Physics 665 Frames/sec 778 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 12.5B Matrices/sec 10B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 6025 & 3117 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
113.96
111.87

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 5.2 PPW 7.2 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 94 PPW 123.8 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 184.2 PPW 208.4 PPW
Blender / Watt 1.75 PPW 1.86 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i5 10400
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-10-18 (shueizhiyueri)Cinebench 202457 / 338
Intel Core i3 12100
No benchmark results yet

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 10400 and i3 12100

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released May 1, 2020 January 4, 2022
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Comet Lake Alder Lake
Model number i5-10400 i3-12100
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 630 UHD Graphics 730
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 225 - Intel Core i3 14100
Intel CPU rating (#189th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 4
P-Threads 12 8
Base Frequency (P) 2.9 GHz 3.3 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.3 GHz 4.3 GHz
Total
Total Cores 6 4
Total Threads 12 8
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 29x 33x
Bus Bandwidth 8 GT/s -
L1 Cache 64K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 256K (per core) 1280K (per core)
L3 Cache 12MB (shared) 12MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Fabrication Process 14 nm 10 nm
TDP (PL1) 65 W 60 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) - 89 W
Socket LGA-1200 LGA-1700
Peak Temperature 100°C 100°C
Desktop CPU ranking (169th and 130th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 630 Intel UHD Graphics 730
GPU Base Clock 350 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1100 MHz 1400 MHz
Shading Units 192 192
TMUs 24 48
ROPs 3 24
Execution Units 24 24
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
0.4 TFLOPS
0.5 TFLOPS

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR4-2666 - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 41.6 GB/s 76.8 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 10400 official page Intel Core i3 12100 official page
PCI Express Version 3.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 16 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
110 (10.7%)
921 (89.3%)
Total votes: 1031

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i3 12100 or i5 10400?
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
Avatar
Redd November 22, 2022 at 03:42 AM
4/8 got a higher score than 6/12 on multi-core its a cool performance result, i3 12100 on November 2022 is cheaper like $10 - $15 than i5 10400.
+60 Reply
Avatar
BydoneSucks June 19, 2022 at 02:07 AM
I had the choice of i5 10400 PC for $278 or i3 12100 for $387. 39% increase in price for 10-15% increase in speed? not worth it. I went with the i5 10400
+216 Reply