Intel Core i5 8600K vs i5 12400F
34
out of 100
VS
49
out of 100
We compared two 6-core desktop CPUs: the 3.6 GHz Intel Core i5 8600K against the 2.5 GHz i5 12400F. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
Review
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.
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core i5 8600K
- Unlocked multiplier
- Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12400F
- Has 9 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
- Newer - released 4 years and 3 months later
- Around 34.2 GB/s (80%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- Newer PCI Express version โ 5.0
- More modern manufacturing process โ 10 versus 14 nanometers
- 43% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2300 vs 1605 points
- 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.4 GHz vs 4.3 GHz)
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 473.5 MB/sec | 789 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 40.5 Klines/sec | 69.9 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 144.1 pages/sec | 221 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 191 Mpixels/sec | 263.7 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 156.7 pages/sec | 230 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 39.9 images/sec | 49.5 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 62.7 images/sec | 77.9 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 7.6 Mpixels/sec | 16.2 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 27.7 GOps/sec | 60.1 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 23.8 GOps/sec | 46.9 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 42M Primes/sec | 74M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 17.2M Strings/sec | 23.2M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 3.1 GBytes/sec | 11.7 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 140.7 MBytes/sec | 233.1 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 722 Frames/sec | 1257 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 12.5B Matrices/sec | 15.9B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 3.6 PPW | 9.8 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 64.4 PPW | 145.8 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 106.8 PPW | 300.8 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 0.95 PPW | 2.48 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i5 8600K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2025-03-16 (london) | Cinebench 2024 | 63 / 342 |
Intel Core i5 12400F
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2026-01-24 (Ecstatify) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2918 / 13277 |
| ๐ 2025-08-17 (Olini) | Cinebench 2024 | 101 / 664 |
| ๐ 2025-07-21 (Rolling Manatee) | Cinebench 2024 | 95 / 640 |
| ๐ 2025-05-12 (inoklike) | Cinebench 2024 | 93 / 646 |
| ๐ 2025-03-04 (RD) | Cinebench 2024 | 88 / 620 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 8600K and i5 12400FGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Intel |
| Released | October 5, 2017 | January 4, 2022 |
| Type | Desktop | Desktop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | x86-64 |
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Alder Lake |
| Model number | i5-8600K | i5-12400F |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 630 | No |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | - |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus | - Intel Core Ultra 5 225F |
Intel CPU rating (#163rd place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 6 | 6 |
| P-Threads | 6 | 12 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3.6 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.3 GHz | 4.4 GHz |
| Total Cores | 6 | 6 |
| Total Threads | 6 | 12 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Multiplier | 36x | 25x |
| Bus Bandwidth | 8 GT/s | - |
| L1 Cache | 64K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 256K (per core) | 1280K (per core) |
| L3 Cache | 9MB (shared) | 18MB (shared) |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | No |
Package
| Fabrication Process | 14 nm | 10 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 95 W | 65 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | - | 117 W |
| Socket | LGA-1151 | LGA-1700 |
| Peak Temperature | 100ยฐC | 100ยฐC |
Desktop CPU ranking (164th and 108th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | - |
| GPU Base Clock | 350 MHz | - |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1150 MHz | - |
| Shading Units | 192 | - |
| TMUs | 24 | - |
| ROPs | 3 | - |
| Execution Units | 24 | - |
| TGP | 15 W | - |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR4-2666 | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 42.6 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i5 8600K official page | Intel Core i5 12400F official page |
| PCI Express Version | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 16 | 20 |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8