EN DE CN BR ES RU
Image
Icon

Intel’s i5-12400, Core i3-12300, and Core i3-12100 Early Benchmarks Have Leaked — And They’re Amazing

Intel’s Alder Lake has garnered a metric ton of attention and, well, it’s easy to understand why: its hybrid... | 29. December 2021

Intel’s Alder Lake has garnered a metric ton of attention and, well, it’s easy to understand why: its hybrid architecture has yielded an incredible performance uplift within a wholly acceptable power envelope. It’s not perfect, but is nonetheless a phenomenal step in the right direction after years of stagnation from “team blue.”

And, better yet, the Core i5-12400, Core i3-12300, and Core i3-12100 will all deliver spectacular performance at affordable MSRPs — if a bunch of leaked benchmarks are to be believed, of course!

The whole non-K line-up is geared towards gamers and “regular” folk — i.e. those who want the absolute best bang for their buck and aren’t super into 3D rendering and such obscenely demanding workloads. They’re easier to keep cool because of their lower TDPs and they don’t require a lot of tinkering post-installation.

The Core i5 and Core i3 end of the spectrum is especially interesting because of its affordable nature. And for the first time in what feels like forever, these CPUs specifically will not only offer mind-blowing performance but they won’t cost an arm and a leg — it’s almost too good to be true; a match that is seldom seen.

So, if you’re looking to upgrade your gaming rig — or just want to get in on the Alder Lake hype train — you definitely have something to look forward to!

Let’s Talk Performance

The Core i5-12400 will come with 6 Performance cores and 12 threads. It’ll have a 65W TDP, 18MB of L3 cache, and some very respectable clock speeds (3Ghz base and 4.6Ghz boost). It’ll cost just $210, and if you don’t need its integrated GPU you’ll be able to buy it for even less ($180). The two Core i3 processors, on the other hand, will both come with 4 cores and 8 threads, the same TDP, and less L3 cache (12MB).

The performance delta between these i5 and i3 SKUs will not be negligible, and that’ll be reflected in their pricing as well: the more powerful Core i3 will go for a measly $150! As for its more modest “sibling,” it’ll supposedly retail for $140 or just $110 if you remove the iGPU from the equation.

All three processors were tested on an AsRock Z690 Phantom Gaming 4 motherboard along with a kit of DDR4-4266 memory from Apacer. And, well, the results speak for themselves.

These are all synthetic benchmarks, and while they might not always reflect real world use, they still go a long way when it comes to portraying the sheer horsepower of these three processors.

The Core i5 is either noticeably better or, at worst, even with the Ryzen 5 5600X (with Precision Boost Overdrive enabled, no less). We’re talking about a 5% performance uplift for nearly half the price. That’s downright staggering! The Core i3s are even more impressive when compared to the Ryzen 3 5350G — they’re between 20-25% faster on average!

When it comes to gaming, things are a lot more competitive, but we still have to give Intel the “W” given the sheer price-to-performance ratio of all three CPUs.

Gaming — Intel Offers More For Less

These benchmarks show the Core i5-12400 trading blows with AMD’s Ryzen 5600X which is a huge triumph in and of itself. The two Core i3 models, on the other hand, mop the floor with every other CPU in their price range. With a ±40% performance delta, these two processors are basically tailor-made for anyone looking to build a gaming rig on a budget!

Intel’s Alder Lake is also more efficient than anything AMD has to offer — who would’ve thought? The Core i5-12400 draws just 73W at maximum load whereas the 5600X consumes a whopping 119W with PBO. The two i3 models are a bit more demanding than their competition (61-64W vs. 52.6W) but offer way better performance. It’s a trade-off we’re more than willing to accept.

All in all, Intel seems to have knocked it out of the park! We’ll get a lot more information on these oh-so-alluring processors in just a couple of days, so stay tuned!