Intel Core i5-12400 Desktop Processor 18M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz

Product Information

The Enermax Liqmax III 360 has an impressive cooling capacity, providing efficient heat dissipation even under heavy workloads. Pairing the Core i5 12400 with an affordable DDR4-based B660 motherboard, then is absolutely the way to go for the vast majority of PC gamers looking for a new budget platform. The last four slides in the above album give us a different view of power efficiency. Here we calculate the cumulativeenergy required to perform a given task. We plot this 'task energy' value in Kilojoules on the left side of the chart.These workloads are comprised of a fixed amount of work, so we can plot the task energy against the time required to finish the job (bottom axis) to give us a better look at efficiency.

Another standout feature of the 700D Airflow is its ability to support vertically mounting a graphics card. This is a great option for those who want to showcase their high-end GPU and add a unique touch to their build. The big improvement when compared to 11th-gen though is the power consumption. For the same level of performance, the Core i5-12400 reduced total system consumption by 28%... and that's total system power consumption, not just CPU power. When it comes to code compilation performance, the 12400 is a beast, completing our test in 6070 seconds, making it 24% faster than the 5600X and 13% faster than the 11600K. In fact, it was only 8% slower than the 5800X, though it was 21% slower than the 12600K. It also depends on how you test these games. Horizon Zero Dawn, for example, using the ultimate quality settings sees the game become entirely GPU limited and this equalizes CPU performance, seeing the 5600X and 12400 matched, even with the 6900 XT at 1080p. Now it's time for some gaming benchmarks and we'll start with F1 2021, using the second highest quality preset at 1080p and the Radeon 6900 XT.

In most instances, particularly gaming, the 12400 shouldn't be a great deal slower than the 12600K, and if that is the case it's going to be an extremely sought-after item by budget gamers. A computer case with good airflow is necessary to remove heat from the CPU and other components, such as the graphics card and power supply unit. This airflow can be achieved through various means, including the number and placement of case fans, the size and location of vents or mesh panels, and liquid coolers. Because this game only uses a single core heavily, the power configuration doesn't matter, allowing the 12400 to produce a score of 202 pts even when adhering to the 65-watt spec. That's the same score you'll receive from a Zen 3 processor and only 2.5% less than the 12600K. With a TDP of 65 W, the Core i5-12400 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 machine, Core i5-12400 uses a PCI-Express Gen 5 connection. This processor features the UHD Graphics 730 integrated graphics solution.

In this market segment, I personally favor value and that's because if you're more performance-oriented you'd go with a more expensive CPU such as the Core i7-12700K or Ryzen 5 5800X. Intel has made plenty of progress, but AMD still holds the crown of the most power-efficient chips even though the margin has gotten slimmer, largely due to the single-die Ryzen 5000G models. The Ryzen 5000 chips generally consume less peak power, and some models can also accomplish more work per unit of power consumed. That results in superior power consumption, efficiency, and thermal output, so you'll end up with a cooler and quieter system. Pricing: Intel Core i5-12400 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 5 5600G Obviously we need to take this with a good deal of caution, though, but it’s quite a startling result if genuine.Age of Empires IV is another game where the 12400 trails the 12600K by a fairly significant margin, 12% for the average frame rate and 22% for the 1% lows. That also meant it was up to 16% slower than the 5600X. Peak power consumption isn't the most important metric, though. The Core i5-12400 is also faster than its predecessor. As you can see in our renders-per-day measurements, the Core i5-12400 is nearly twice as efficient as the previous-gen 11400, and is more efficient than the Ryzen 5 5600X, which offers comparable performance. The 12400 is very economical indeed, using ~20 watts less than the 5600X for the same level of performance in Cyberpunk. It also reduced total system usage while gaming by 8% when compared to the previous generation Core i5-11600K. 10 Game Average

Then when power limited to the 65w spec, it matched the 5600X making it 8% slower than the unleashed configuration. Being someone who appreciates a clean and modern look in my builds, I appreciated the sleek design of the Corsair 700D Airflow, which features tempered glass on one side and a steel front panel grille. Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics only: to use the Intel® Iris® Xe brand, the system must be populated with 128-bit (dual channel) memory. Otherwise, use the Intel® UHD brand. In our look at the 10-game average, you can see the Core i5-12400 without power limits and an all-in-one liquid cooler isn't much faster than the 65-watt spec using the box cooler. We're talking about less than a 2% difference on average. The Core i5-12400F is my new go-to budget CPU and we hope to see some nice budget B660 boards available soon! Shopping Shortcuts:The i5-12400 performs much better in Far Cry 6, at least when compared to the 5600X as it was up to 10% faster, beating even the 5800X and 11700K.

If we remove the power limits with the RM1 box cooler, the 12400 maintains an all-core frequency of 4 GHz – a 5-8% frequency boost there – and its temperature peaked at 82C, but the RM1 was noticeably loud now, which is not an ideal solution, though it does work.

Tray Processor

Overall, the Ryzen processors are still the most power-efficient chips we've ever tested, but Alder Lake closes the gap significantly. However, Intel's improvement here is noteworthy: We measured a peak of 88W with the 12400 with the power limits lifted, while the previous-gen 11400 peaked at a whopping 145W.