i5-12400 vs Celeron 2981U

Place in the ranking	2716	613
Place by popularity	not in top-100	74
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Celeron	no data
Architecture codename	Haswell (2013−2015)	Alder Lake-S (2022)
Release date	1 January 2014 (10 years ago)	4 January 2022 (2 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	2 (Dual-core)	6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads	2	12
Base clock speed	1.6 GHz	2.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	1.6 GHz	4.4 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	128 KB	80K (per core)
L2 cache	512 KB	1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache	2 MB	18 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	no data	163 mm²
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	100 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Socket	FCBGA1168	FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Smart Response	-	no data
GPIO	+	no data
Smart Connect	+	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	-
FDI	-	no data
AMT	9.5	no data
Matrix Storage	-	no data
Status	Discontinued	Launched
HD Audio	+	no data
RST	+	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	+
OS Guard	-	+
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 are enumerated here.

AMD-V	+	-
VT-d	-	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
Maximum memory size	16 GB	128 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	76.8 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel® HD Graphics for 4th Generation Intel® Processors	Intel UHD Graphics 730
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video	+	no data
Clear Video HD	no data	+
Graphics max frequency	1 GHz	1.45 GHz
Execution Units	no data	24

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	4
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	no data	4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP	no data	5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	no data	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	no data	12
OpenGL	no data	4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400.

PCIe version	2.0	5.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes	12	20
PCI support	-	no data
USB revision	3.0	no data
Total number of SATA ports	2	no data
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	2	no data
Integrated IDE	-	no data
Number of USB ports	4	no data
Integrated LAN	-	no data
UART	+	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Celeron 2981U 0.67

i5-12400 12.56
+1775%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Celeron 2981U 1027

i5-12400 19370
+1786%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	0.67	12.56
Recency	1 January 2014	4 January 2022
Physical cores	2	6
Threads	2	12
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	65 Watt

Celeron 2981U has 333.3% lower power consumption.

i5-12400, on the other hand, has a 1774.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 8 years, and 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads.

The Core i5-12400 is our recommended choice as it beats the Celeron 2981U in performance tests.

Be aware that Celeron 2981U is a notebook processor while Core i5-12400 is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Celeron 2981U and Core i5-12400, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.