Home > CPU Comparison > Core i5 11400 or Core i3 12100: what's better?

Intel Core i5 11400 vs i3 12100

44 out of 100
Intel Core i5 11400
VS
45 out of 100
Intel Core i3 12100
Intel Core i5 11400
Intel Core i3 12100

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5 11400 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.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (4)

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.
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Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click “Calculate".
Currency
VS
35.1
(Mediocre)
Value Index
65.8
(Good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12100 and 11400
Advantages of Intel Core i5 11400
  • Has 2 more physical cores
  • 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.4 GHz vs 4.3 GHz)
Advantages of Intel Core i3 12100
  • Around 26.8 GB/s (54%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • More modern manufacturing process – 10 versus 14 nanometers
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • Newer - released 10 months later

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i5 11400
vs
Core i3 12100

Cinebench

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

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i5 11400 +11%
8234
Core i3 12100
7427
File compression 557 MB/sec 631.3 MB/sec
Clang compilation 62.8 Klines/sec 46.7 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 172.3 pages/sec 170.3 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 274.2 Mpixels/sec 201.3 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 205.9 pages/sec 222.5 pages/sec
Background blur 41.8 images/sec 39.3 images/sec
Photo processing 71.1 images/sec 68.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 13.8 Mpixels/sec 10.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 932 & 979 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i5 11400 +33%
16627
Core i3 12100
12506
Integer math 57.5 GOps/sec 37 GOps/sec
Floating point math 34 GOps/sec 29 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 49M Primes/sec 49M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 24M Strings/sec 14.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 10.2 GBytes/sec 7.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 205.9 MBytes/sec 146.2 MBytes/sec
Physics 790 Frames/sec 778 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 14.8B Matrices/sec 10B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 4322 & 3117 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i5 11400 +31%
146.49
Core i3 12100
111.87

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 7.4 PPW 7.2 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 126.7 PPW 123.8 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 255.8 PPW 208.4 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.25 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 11400
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-01-04 (anon)Cinebench 202483 / 319
📘 2023-11-22 (Tedra)Cinebench 202486 / 484
Add View all (2)
Intel Core i3 12100
No benchmark results yet
Add

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 11400 and i3 12100

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released March 17, 2021 January 4, 2022
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Rocket Lake Alder Lake
Model number i5-11400 i3-12100
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 730 UHD Graphics 730
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 5 5500 -
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 225 - Intel Core i3 14100
Intel CPU rating (196th and 188th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 4
P-Threads 12 8
Base Frequency (P) 2.6 GHz 3.3 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.4 GHz 4.3 GHz
Total
Total Cores 6 4
Total Threads 12 8
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 26x 33x
Bus Bandwidth 8 GT/s -
L1 Cache 64K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 512K (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 (133rd and 130th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 730 Intel UHD Graphics 730
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1300 MHz 1400 MHz
Shading Units 192 192
TMUs 48 48
ROPs 24 24
Execution Units 24 24
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i5 11400
0.5 TFLOPS
Core i3 12100
0.5 TFLOPS
See: Intel UHD Graphics 730 benchmarks

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR4-3200 - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 50 GB/s 76.8 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 11400 official page Intel Core i3 12100 official page
PCI Express Version 4.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
277 (19.3%)
1160 (80.7%)
Total votes: 1437

Competitors

1. Intel Core i3 12100 vs Intel Core i5 10400 (2)
2. Intel Core i3 12100 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
3. Intel Core i3 12100 vs Intel Core i3 14100
4. Intel Core i5 11400 vs Intel Core i5 10400 (4)
5. Intel Core i5 11400 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i3 12100 or i5 11400?
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
Avatar
The Zlo March 7, 2024 at 11:11 AM
The i5 is still superior. Perhaps you will find that the i3 outperforms the i5 in some games, but for the future, you will need more cores to manage multitasking. If you purchase the i3, you'll note in some games the CPU utilization reaches 100%, something you wouldn't observe with the i5. By the way, the heart of FPS performance lies in the GPU, while multitasking capabilities can be found in CPUs with more cores.
+15 Reply
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AAD January 23, 2023 at 07:22 AM
Absolutely comprehensive outlook. Appreciate the content.
+48 Reply
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LTR November 9, 2022 at 12:14 PM
Most people have this confusion, about whether to go for the previous gen's better processor (i5)or the latest generation processor. (i3) This article is useful for people to decide. It also gives clarity on the priorities to be made. One Line Tip: Always GO for the latest GEN.
+202 Reply
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guest_8291 July 25, 2022 at 09:04 PM
Thank you for the comprising the processor, I have satisfied that which generation laptop is better for me. Thank You Guys Very Much.
+171 Reply
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