Performance per price, higher is better.
Intel Core i3-12100F vs Core i5-10400F
General info
Comparing Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 722 | 666 |
| Place by popularity | 8 | 15 |
| Value for money | 57.54 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Architecture codename | Comet Lake (2020) | Alder Lake-S (2022) |
| Release date | 20 May 2020 (3 years old) | January 2022 (1 year old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $155 | no data |
| Current price | $110 (0.7x MSRP) | $114 |
Value for money
no data
Technical specs
Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F 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 | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 2.9 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.3 GHz | 4.3 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256K (per core) | 1.25 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 12 MB (shared) | 12 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | no data | 163 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | 100 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 72 °C | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F 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 | FCLGA1200 | FCLGA1700 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 58 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | - | no data |
| TSX | + | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| SIPP | - | no data |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | - |
Security technologies
Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | + | + |
| Identity Protection | + | no data |
| SGX | Yes with Intel® ME | no data |
| OS Guard | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F. Depending on the motherboards, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 | DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 41.6 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 5.0 and 4.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | 20 |
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.
Core i3-12100F outperforms Core i5-10400F by 9% in our combined benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Core i3-12100F outperforms Core i5-10400F by 9% in Passmark.
GeekBench 5 Single-Core
GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.
Benchmark coverage: 41%
Core i3-12100F outperforms Core i5-10400F by 53% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.
Benchmark coverage: 41%
Core i3-12100F outperforms Core i5-10400F by 27% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 10.34 | 11.30 |
| Base clock speed | 2900 | 3300 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 65 Watt | 58 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F. The differences in performance seem too small.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-10400F and Core i3-12100F, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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