Of all the “non-K series” Intel Alder Lake processors recently introduced by the chip giant, the Intel Core i3-12100 was, alongside the Core i5-12400, one of those that generated the most expectations. I already told you at the time, both processors were going to fill an important gap within the low range, and the mid-low range, and I can confirm that my forecasts were very correct.
Media such as Tom’s Hardware confirmed, with their analysis, that the Intel Core i5-12400 is capable of competing with the Ryzen 5 5600X, and that is emerging as a more interesting value because it manages to exceed it in many scenarios, despite the fact that its price is much lower. As of today, the first has a price of 224.90 euros, while the second costs 295.32 euros. The numbers speak for themselves.
The Intel Core i5-12400 offers an interesting value, but if we don’t need an integrated graphics, the Intel Core i5-12400F is the best option on the market within its category, since, like its brother, it competes with the Ryzen 5 5600X, but is priced at just 194.89 euros. To build a PC dedicated to games, starting from a tight budget, that Intel chip is the best option available today.
Intel Core i3-12100 and the Power of IPC: Four Cores Overcome Six Cores
That is the conclusion left by the analysis published by Art of PC. The Intel Core i3-12100 is a processor that, as we said, falls into the low range, but it is a new generation chip, which means it uses the Golden Cove architecture, and that it is compatible with DDR5 memory at 4,800 MHz, and with DDR4 memory at 3,200 MHz (up to 128 GB).
In Cinebench R23, the Intel Core i3-12100 achieves a score of 1,649 point mono thread, while in multithread it reaches 8,474 points. Those values are so good that they allow it to compete with 6-core, 12-thread processors, such as the Intel Core i5-10500, and even the Intel Core i7-9700, which has 8 cores and 8 threads. It is important to remember that the Intel Core i3-12100 has 4 cores and 8 threads.
If we look at the gaming performance data, we find a resounding victory for the Intel Core i3-12100, which clearly prevails over the Ryzen 5 3600. I know what you are going to tell me, that current games do not depend so much on multithreading performance, and yes, it is true, but in this comparison games with high CPU dependency have been used They scale best in 6-core and 12-thread configurations, such as CoD: Warzone, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Hitman 3.
The conclusion we can reach is very clear, the Intel Core i3-12100 offers excellent value for money, and confirms that, thanks to the increase in IPC that has marked the Golden Cove architecture, the 4 cores and 8 threads still have a lot of life ahead of them, at least in games. On the other hand, I remind you, as I did with the Intel Core i5-12400, that there is also a version of the Intel Core i3-12100 with the GPU disabled (the “F” model) whose price is barely 123.10 euros.
