We see larger leads for the 12400 over the Ryzen 5 5600G, 3600X, and 3600, with the Core i5-12400 taking leads of 15.

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. 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.Starting with the Cinebench R23 multi-core results, we find that the 12400 is good for just over 12,000 points, and when following the 65-watt spec, it was just 3% slower. The last application we're going to look at is Blender, where the 12400 was just able to edge out the 5600X while matching the 11600K. We also include tests with the Core i5-12400 with the power limits lifted and overclocked memory (again, head to the review for details). We say wallet-friendly, but of course what we don’t know is a key piece of the puzzle, and that’s how Intel will pitch pricing. Naturally, the rules around Intel's Gear 1 and Gear 2 modes apply here, and you'll want to stick with the low-latency Gear 1 for most practical use-cases (especially gaming).

Now, it is possible part of this CPU's nerdy allure is the product of a happy accident on the part of Intel's microcode, but that doesn't change the fact that as well as being an excellent six-core, 12-thread gaming processor, it's a hugely impressive overclocking chip, too. Since AMD took the lead in the hearts and minds of PC gamers with its outstanding Ryzen CPUs, Intel has refocused on the mid-range market and has been putting out the absolute best value gaming chips around. 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. Programs using Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) will run on this processor, boosting performance for calculation-heavy applications. Removing the power restrictions gives the Core i5-12400 a 7% boost in our cumulative measure of threaded performance, allowing it to beat the overclocked Ryzen 5 5600X, not to mention the rest of the competing Ryzen chips.There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

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. Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. That also makes it less of a power draw, or hot body compared with the last-gen Core i5 11400 processor. The Corona benchmark sees the 12400 delivering exceptional levels of performance, beating the 11600K and 5600X. Even without the Core i5 12400's overclocking chops, I would be hailing this as the best budget CPU for an age.

Adequate airflow is necessary to remove the heat generated by the CPU, while a well-designed case will ensure that the airflow is directed where it is needed most. You could point to a 20% drop in performance in Far Cry 6, but we are talking about a drop from 147fps to 118fps.

Based on pricing alone, the aging Zen 2-powered Ryzen 5 3600X and 3600 will remain the go-to competitors for the 12400 even though they debuted nearly two and a half years ago. The plan was to do the same with the Intel 10th and 11th-gen Core processors, but performance went backwards in all instances with ReBAR enabled, so for now we've left this PCI Express feature disabled on those platforms. Fortunately, the 12400 is just as fast with DDR4 in the majority of tasks, and you can pick from plenty of cost-saving DDR4 motherboards. In either case, the Core i5-12400 provides more than enough performance to justify the platform costs.It's noteworthy that the synthetic benchmarks (Futuremark suite and chess benchmarks) don't tend to translate well to real-world gaming, but they do show us the raw amount of compute power exposed to game engines.