Intel Core i7 8700K vs i5 12400

We compared two 6-core desktop CPUs: the 3.7 GHz Intel Core i7 8700K against the 2.5 GHz i5 12400. 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.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click β€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
47.3
(Average)
Value Index
42.6
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12400 and 8700K
Advantages of Intel Core i7 8700K
  • Unlocked multiplier
  • 7% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.7 GHz vs 4.4 GHz)
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12400
  • Newer - released 4 years and 3 months later
  • Around 35.2 GB/s (85%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • Has 6 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • More modern manufacturing process – 10 versus 14 nanometers
  • 29% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2245 vs 1741 points
  • More powerful Intel UHD Graphics 730 integrated graphics: 0.6 vs 0.5 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)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) - 295
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) - 1710

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
2245
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
9788
File compression 509.8 MB/sec 879.2 MB/sec
Clang compilation 52.2 Klines/sec 65.6 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 149.8 pages/sec 223.7 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 210.4 Mpixels/sec 275.6 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 165.3 pages/sec 225.9 pages/sec
Background blur 38 images/sec 49.5 images/sec
Photo processing 61.1 images/sec 81.2 images/sec
Ray tracing 10.8 Mpixels/sec 15.1 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 550 & 1015 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
3464
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
18816
Integer math 45.9 GOps/sec 58.9 GOps/sec
Floating point math 28.5 GOps/sec 45.9 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 39M Primes/sec 67M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 25.2M Strings/sec 22.6M Strings/sec
Data encryption 4.8 GBytes/sec 11.5 GBytes/sec
Data compression 198.7 MBytes/sec 228 MBytes/sec
Physics 811 Frames/sec 1090 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 13.5B Matrices/sec 15.5B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 18753 & 6661 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
126.94
166.74

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 5.3 PPW 9.2 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 72.9 PPW 150.6 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 142.8 PPW 289.5 PPW
Blender / Watt 1.34 PPW 2.57 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 i7 8700K
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-03-12 (SPUUD)Cinebench 202469 / 486
πŸ“˜ 2025-03-09 (angry beaver)Cinebench 202470 / 504
πŸ“˜ 2025-02-14 (Mike)Cinebench 202474 / 520
πŸ“˜ 2024-12-01 (AzureWizzard)Cinebench 202472 / 499
πŸ“˜ 2024-04-21 (Ian Geraldi Cordeiro)Cinebench 202464 / 398
Intel Core i5 12400
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-24 (MortalMech)Cinebench 2026295 / 1710
πŸ“˜ 2024-06-27 (Renni)Cinebench 202499 / 598

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 8700K and i5 12400

General

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 i7-8700K i5-12400
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 630 UHD Graphics 730
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 7 2700X -
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus - Intel Core Ultra 5 225
Intel CPU rating (#164th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 6
P-Threads 12 12
Base Frequency (P) 3.7 GHz 2.5 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.7 GHz 4.4 GHz
Total
Total Cores 6 6
Total Threads 12 12
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 37x 25x
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) 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 100Β°C 100Β°C
Desktop CPU ranking (155th and 109th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 630 Intel UHD Graphics 730
GPU Base Clock 350 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1200 MHz 1450 MHz
Shading Units 192 192
TMUs 24 48
ROPs 3 24
Execution Units 24 24
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
0.5 TFLOPS
0.6 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 i7 8700K official page Intel Core i5 12400 official page
PCI Express Version 3.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 16 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
6 (14%)
37 (86%)
Total votes: 43

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i5 12400 or i7 8700K?
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