Intel Core i3-12100F vs Intel Core i7-2600K

Core i3-12100F vs Core i7-2600K comparison

In our benchmarks, the Core i3-12100F beats the Core i7-2600K in overall performance. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i7-2600K in all gaming tests too.

Info from our database shows that they both have the same core count and the same number of threads. With our hardware info, we find that the Core i7-2600K has a slightly higher clock speed than the Core i3-12100F. Despite this, the Core i3-12100F has a slightly higher turbo speed. A Core i3-12100F CPU outputs less heat than a Core i7-2600K 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.