Intel Core i7-12700 vs Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400

Core i7-12700 vs Core 2 Quad Q9400 specs and performance

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i7-12700 performs better than the Core 2 Quad Q9400. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core 2 Quad Q9400 in all gaming tests too.

With info from our database, we find that the Core i7-12700 has significantly more cores with 12 cores whereas the Core 2 Quad Q9400 has 4 cores. It also has more threads than the Core 2 Quad Q9400. These CPUs have different clock speeds. Indeed, the Core i7-12700 has a slightly higher clock speed compared to the Core 2 Quad Q9400. A Core i7-12700 CPU outputs less heat than a Core 2 Quad Q9400 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 i7-12700 has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.