Intel Core i3-12100F vs Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650

Core i3-12100F vs Core 2 Quad Q9650 specs and performance

In our benchmarks, the Core i3-12100F beats the Core 2 Quad Q9650 in overall performance. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core 2 Quad Q9650 in all gaming tests too.

When comparing these CPUs we notice that they have the same number of cores but the Core i3-12100F has more threads. With our hardware info, we find that the Core i3-12100F has a slightly higher clock speed than the Core 2 Quad Q9650. A Core i3-12100F CPU outputs less heat than a Core 2 Quad Q9650 CPU because of its significantly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption.

Most CPUs have more threads than cores. This technology, colloquially called hyperthreading, improves performance by splitting a core into multiple virtual ones. This provides more efficient utilisation of a core. Indeed, the Core i3-12100F has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.