Intel® Core™ i3-12100 Desktop Processor 12M Cache, up to 4.30 GHz

Product Information

Running at the 58w spec, the 12100F never exceeded 78C and this temperature was reported inside the Corsair Obsidian 500D with an ambient room temperature of 21C. A good result overall. The Core i3-12100 is impressive in threaded productivity workloads for its price point, easily beating the price-comparable Ryzen 3 3300X in nearly every benchmark and establishing a commanding 30% lead over the Core i3-10100. Of course, AMD's more expensive six-core chips provide more performance in threaded work, but they should given their higher price tags. For testing the Core i3-12100F we're using the MSI B660M Mortar Wi-Fi DDR4 with 32GB of dual-rank, dual-channel DDR4-3200 CL14 memory. This is the same memory we use for all our DDR4 testing and it's typically faster than single-rank DDR4-3800 CL18 memory in terms of performance. There's another big difference between the Core i3-12100F compared to the Core i5/7/9 K-models. The newer chips are based on a physically different silicon, dubbed "H0." This die is smaller and physically only features six "Golden Cove" P-cores, zero "Gracemont" E-core clusters, and a shared L3 cache that's only 18 MB. The higher-end CPUs are carved out of the larger "C0" die, the same one the flagship i9-12900K is based on. When looking at 1% lows, it was 45% faster than the 10100F, and 33% faster when comparing the average FPS.

But as it stands, the 12100F is just 16% slower than the 10600K and 24% slower than the 12400. But when compared to the 10100F, we're looking at a hefty 42% increase in performance. Here's a look a the 10 game average data and overall we think it's fair to say Intel's latest quad-core made out very well in many of today's games, especially given we were often using slightly dialed down quality settings at 1080p with a Radeon RX 6900 XT. Moving on, we have Watch Dogs: Legion and although 97 fps on average is one of the weaker results from the batch of CPUs tested, the 12100F was 8% faster than the R5 3600 and 20% faster than the 10100F. Moreover, it was ~8% slower than the Ryzen 7 3800X and 10% slower than the Core i5-10600K, both of which are very capable gaming processors. Next we have Hitman 3, and here the 12100F was good for 154 fps on average which is comparable to numerous current and previous generation mid range processors such as the 3700X, 10600K, 11600K, and even the 12400. A strong result and a massive 36% uplift over the old 10100F. The 12100F is also handy for those needing to get some Photoshop work done as the performance is comparable to that of the 11600K, 3700X and 10700K, some pretty high-end CPUs there in comparison. It was also 37% faster than the 10100F, an impressive jump over the previous-gen Core i3 part.Arguably the most CPU demanding game in our list is Cyberpunk 2077 and the Core i3-12100F was feeling the pressure a little, though overall performance was excellent, basically matching the R5 3600 and R7 3700X.

Due to the strong single core performance of the 12100F, we see that it scores very well with 189 pts making it just 6% slower than the 5600X and 12400, but also 16% faster than the 11600K and 22% faster than the 10600K. See http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology.html?wapkw=hyper+threading for more information including details on which processors support Intel® HT Technology. Processors that support 64-bit computing on Intel® architecture require an Intel 64 architecture-enabled BIOS. Before wrapping things up, here's a look at operating temperatures with the RS1 box cooler, which is a cut down version of the RM1 which comes with the 12400. The decompression performance is a lot less impressive as the 12100F is barely any faster than the 10100F and is now 42% slower than the Ryzen 5 3600.With a TDP of 60 W, the Core i3-12100 consumes typical power levels for a modern PC. Intel's processor supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory with a dual-channel interface. For communication with other components in the computer, Core i3-12100 uses a PCI-Express Gen 5 connection. This processor features the UHD Graphics 730 integrated graphics solution. Age of Empires IV relies heavily on single core performance, so the Core i3-12100F does very well allowing for 190 fps on average, which is the same level of performance you'll receive from the i5-12400. It's also a 27% increase from the 10100F and a 20% boost over the Ryzen 5 3600.

But is also means when more CPU limited in todays games, the 12100F is often comparable to parts such as the Ryzen 7 3700X and Core i5-10600K, which is remarkable. The 12100F was also very capable when testing with Rainbow Six Siege, averaging ~400 fps with 1% lows over 300 fps. This placed it on par with the Ryzen 5 3600 and ahead of both the 11600K and 10600K. When compared to the 10100F, we're seeing a 24% increase in 1% low performance.We also tested power consumption with Cyberpunk 2077 and the the 12100F looks impressive, increasing total system usage by just 10% over the 10100F for a 16% boost in performance. Basically, when paired with a mid-range graphics card, a 400 watt power supply would be overkill. 10 Game Average In Blender the margins are fairly similar to what we've already seen. The 12100F reduced the render time by 26% when compared to the 10100F, while it was 21% slower than the 10600K. Essentially you're getting half the performance of the 5800X, while spending 3x less. Gaming Benchmarks We're including Factorio in the application benchmarks as we're not measuring FPS, but updates per second. This automated benchmark calculates the time it takes to run 1000 updates. This is a single thread test which apparently relies heavily on cache performance. We have deep-dive coverage of the Alder Lake design and microarchitectures here, along with a broader overview in our Alder Lake all we know article. Additionally, Intel now assigns a Processor Base Power (PBP) spec instead of using the 'TDP' (Thermal Design Point) nomenclature. The company also added a secondary Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) value to represent the highest power level during boost activity. You can read more about that here.

Intel processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families. See http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html for details.

Processor Number

The IPC of Alder Lake is so strong that just 4 P-cores can rival the multi-core performance of a 10th generation 6-core/12-thread processor like the 10600K, and even AMD's Zen 2 based Ryzen 5 3600. What this means is, for most gamers who will almost always be more GPU limited, the 12100F is going to fair even better. In Adobe After Effects the 12100F appears surprisingly capable, roughly matching the performance of the Ryzen 5 5600X in the Puget Systems Benchmark. I have no doubt that serious users making money from work with After Effects won't opt for the Core i3-12100F, but for those starting out this budget CPU doesn't seem like a bad option, despite being a lowly quad-core. Intel classifications are for general, educational and planning purposes only and consist of Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN) and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers. Any use made of Intel classifications are without recourse to Intel and shall not be construed as a representation or warranty regarding the proper ECCN or HTS. Your company as an importer and/or exporter is responsible for determining the correct classification of your transaction. Next up we have code compilation performance and again the 12100F wasn't a great deal slower than previous generation 6-core/12-thread processors such as the 10600K and 3600. We're talking about an 8% increase in completion time. Meanwhile, the 12100F reduced the compile time by over 30% to the 10100F.