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. Mattzun said:For value gaming, the actual comparison is gaming performance with integrated graphics on the 5600G vs integrated graphics on the 12400. Perhaps most impressive of all is the 9% margin it defeated the 5600X by, which doesn't bode particularly well for AMD. Finally when compared to the 12600K, the 12400 was 30% slower and this is partly due to the 10% reduction in frequency along with the removal of the 4 E-cores and a 10% reduction in L3 cache capacity.

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. 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.

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. For testing the Core i5-12400, we're using the MSI B660M Mortar Wi-Fi DDR4 with 32GB of dual-rank, dual-channel DDR4-3200 CL14 memory – the same stuff we use for all our DDR4 testing – and it's typically faster than single-rank DDR4-3800 CL18 memory in terms of performance. 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. That's as good as 6-core/12-thread performance gets in this application. Gaming Benchmarks All of the chips come with a bundled cooler, which levels the playing field when you're only buying the chip. The Core i5-12400 was good for a score of 667 pts when running without power limits in the Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark and that meant it was able to match the 8-core/16-thread 10700K, while beating the 5600X by 8%.

The ultra-quiet design of the Toughpower GF3 makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a power supply that won't add excess noise to their system, even under heavy workloads. Now, before we jump into the benchmarks, lets go over the test system specs. We haven't done any DDR5 testing for this one as it seems like a waste of time right now, and also we know all we need to in terms of DDR4 vs DDR5 performance (our big featured covered 41 games) or refer to our Core i9-12900K review which tested both types of memory and corresponding motherboards. Once again we're including Factorio in the application benchmarks not to measure fps, but rather updates per second. This automated benchmark calculates the time it takes to run 1,000 updates. This is a single-thread test which apparently relies heavily on cache performance. The quiet operation of the cooler made for a more comfortable and distraction-free computing experience.Intel has a serious performance advantage in The Riftbreaker. The i5-12400 easily beats the 5600X offering up to 26% greater performance, seen when looking at the 1% lows. It was also just a few frames slower than the 12600K and 13% faster than the 11600K. When selecting a computer case for a Intel Core i5-12400 CPU, it's important to consider the CPU's thermal design power (TDP), which indicates the amount of heat the CPU can generate under load. The higher the TDP of the CPU, the more heat it will produce, and the more crucial proper airflow becomes.

That generally means the expensive options, such as the Asus ROG Maximus Z690 range of boards, but there have been reports of it working on B660 motherboards, too, and potentially even the less expensive DDR4 options, though we've yet to try those out ourselves.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. The Corona benchmark sees the 12400 delivering exceptional levels of performance, beating the 11600K and 5600X. Taking 117 seconds to complete the workload meant it was 9% faster than the 5600X, despite being 26% slower than the 12600K. The Core i5-12400 matched the 11600K and 10700K here, making it 9% slower than the 12900K and 15% slower than the 5600X. That might appear a little disappointing at first, but remember the 12400 costs ~30% less than the 5600X, so this remains a great result in terms of value.