Home > CPU Comparison > Core i5 12400F or Core i3 12100F: what's better?

Intel Core i5 12400F vs i3 12100F

49 out of 100
Intel Core i5 12400F
VS
48 out of 100
Intel Core i3 12100F
Intel Core i5 12400F
Intel Core i3 12100F

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 12400F with 6-cores against the 3.3 GHz i3 12100F 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 (1)

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
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.
๐Ÿ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click โ€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
66.9
(Good)
Value Index
113.2
(Excellent)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12100F and 12400F
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12400F
  • Has 2 more physical cores
  • Has 6 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.4 GHz vs 4.3 GHz)
Advantages of Intel Core i3 12100F
  • 10% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2529 vs 2300 points

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i5 12400F
vs
Core i3 12100F

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)
File compression 789 MB/sec 792.9 MB/sec
Clang compilation 69.9 Klines/sec 60.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 221 pages/sec 204.1 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 263.7 Mpixels/sec 263.7 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 230 pages/sec 267.7 pages/sec
Background blur 49.5 images/sec 48.6 images/sec
Photo processing 77.9 images/sec 82.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 16.2 Mpixels/sec 14.4 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 1128 & 1026 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i5 12400F +40%
19551
Core i3 12100F
13953
Integer math 60.1 GOps/sec 40.8 GOps/sec
Floating point math 46.9 GOps/sec 31.9 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 74M Primes/sec 59M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 23.2M Strings/sec 15.9M Strings/sec
Data encryption 11.7 GBytes/sec 8 GBytes/sec
Data compression 233.1 MBytes/sec 159.7 MBytes/sec
Physics 1257 Frames/sec 972 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 15.9B Matrices/sec 10.8B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 17200 & 3972 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i5 12400F +51%
161.36
Core i3 12100F
106.99

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 9.8 PPW 7.6 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 145.8 PPW 152.2 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 300.8 PPW 240.6 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.48 PPW 1.84 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 12400F
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-01-24 (Ecstatify)Geekbench 6 CPU2918 / 13277
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-08-17 (Olini)Cinebench 2024101 / 664
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-07-21 (Rolling Manatee)Cinebench 202495 / 640
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-05-12 (inoklike)Cinebench 202493 / 646
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-03-04 (RD)Cinebench 202488 / 620
Add View all (5)
Intel Core i3 12100F
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-11-02 (idkez)Cinebench 202485 / 442
Add View all (1)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 12400F and i3 12100F

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released January 4, 2022 January 4, 2022
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Alder Lake Alder Lake
Model number i5-12400F i3-12100F
Integrated GPU No No
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 225F - Intel Core i3 14100F
Intel CPU rating (163rd and 172nd place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 4
P-Threads 12 8
Base Frequency (P) 2.5 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 25x 33x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 1280K (per core) 1280K (per core)
L3 Cache 18MB (shared) 12MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier No No

Package

Fabrication Process 10 nm 10 nm
TDP (PL1) 65 W 58 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 117 W 89 W
Socket LGA-1700 LGA-1700
Peak Temperature 100ยฐC 100ยฐC
Desktop CPU ranking (108th and 115th place)

Memory Support

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

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 12400F official page Intel Core i3 12100F official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
588 (34.4%)
1123 (65.6%)
Total votes: 1711

Competitors

1. Intel Core i3 12100F vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (1)
2. Intel Core i3 12100F vs AMD Ryzen 5 5500
3. Intel Core i3 12100F vs Intel Core i3 12100
4. Intel Core i3 12100F vs Intel Core i3 13100F
5. Intel Core i5 12400F vs Intel Core i3 14100F
6. Intel Core i5 12400F vs AMD Ryzen 5 7500F
7. Intel Core i5 12400F vs Intel Core i5 13400F (3)
8. Intel Core i5 12400F vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
9. Intel Core i5 12400F vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (13)
10. Intel Core i5 12400F vs Intel Core i5 14400F
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i3 12100F or i5 12400F?
๐ŸŒ Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
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john July 18, 2023 at 03:25 PM
Without knowing their specific specs, it's clear that the brand modifier in the i5 12400F is superior to the i3 12100F. They both belong to the same generation. Moreover, the SKU numeric digit in the i5 12400F is more impressive. As for the product line suffix, it's the same in both processors.
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