Intel Core i7 9700K vs i5 12400F
41
out of 100
VS
49
out of 100
We compared two desktop CPUs: the 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 9700K with 8-cores against the 2.5 GHz i5 12400F with 6-cores. 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 i7 9700K
- Unlocked multiplier
- Has 2 more physical cores
- Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 11% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.9 GHz vs 4.4 GHz)
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12400F
- Around 35.2 GB/s (85%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- Newer - released 3 years and 3 months later
- Newer PCI Express version β 5.0
- Has 6 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
- More modern manufacturing process β 10 versus 14 nanometers
- 27% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2300 vs 1817 points
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 | 666.4 MB/sec | 789 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 63.1 Klines/sec | 69.9 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 191 pages/sec | 221 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 262.2 Mpixels/sec | 263.7 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 182.9 pages/sec | 230 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 52.6 images/sec | 49.5 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 74.1 images/sec | 77.9 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 11.3 Mpixels/sec | 16.2 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 41.4 GOps/sec | 60.1 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 35.5 GOps/sec | 46.9 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 51M Primes/sec | 74M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 25.6M Strings/sec | 23.2M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 4.6 GBytes/sec | 11.7 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 207.1 MBytes/sec | 233.1 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 878 Frames/sec | 1257 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 18.1B Matrices/sec | 15.9B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 5.7 PPW | 9.8 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 88.8 PPW | 145.8 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 151.7 PPW | 300.8 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 1.41 PPW | 2.48 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i7 9700K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2025-10-22 (Texhex) | Cinebench 2024 | 75 / 528 |
| π 2025-03-29 (Bobby) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1777 / 8438 |
| π 2025-03-29 (Bobby) | Cinebench 2024 | 81 / 592 |
| π 2025-02-17 (chuckie) | Cinebench 2024 | 80 / 537 |
| π 2025-01-04 (Brian) | Cinebench 2024 | 74 / 518 |
Intel Core i5 12400F
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-01-24 (Ecstatify) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2918 / 13277 |
| π 2025-08-17 (Olini) | Cinebench 2024 | 101 / 664 |
| π 2025-07-21 (Rolling Manatee) | Cinebench 2024 | 95 / 640 |
| π 2025-05-12 (inoklike) | Cinebench 2024 | 93 / 646 |
| π 2025-03-04 (RD) | Cinebench 2024 | 88 / 620 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 9700K and i5 12400FGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Intel |
| Released | October 8, 2018 | January 4, 2022 |
| Type | Desktop | Desktop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | x86-64 |
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Alder Lake |
| Model number | i7-9700K | i5-12400F |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 630 | No |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | - |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus | - Intel Core Ultra 5 225F |
Intel CPU rating (#163rd place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 8 | 6 |
| P-Threads | 8 | 12 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3.6 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.9 GHz | 4.4 GHz |
| Total Cores | 8 | 6 |
| Total Threads | 8 | 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 | 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 (144th and 108th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | - |
| GPU Base Clock | 350 MHz | - |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1200 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 | 41.6 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i7 9700K 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: 155