Intel Core i9-10900 vs Intel Core i5-12400

Compare Intel 10th Generation Core i9 10 core CPU vs Intel 12th Generation Core i5 6 core processor, specs and benchmark score. Which is the better CPU for gaming?

CPU Comparison

Quickly search and compare processors

Price

The cheapest price from our partner retailers

$ 437.55
$ 208.93
$ 228.62 significantly less expensive

Benchmark Score

Overall Score

A combined score of all workloads

79 %
12% slightly better overall score
70 %

Gaming Score

The raw gaming performance with a fast GPU

88 %
97 %
10% slightly better gaming score

Multitasking Score

Performance in workloads using up to 8 cores

76 %
22% slightly better multitasking score
62 %

Heavy Workload Score

Performance in workloads using up to 16 cores

75 %
25% slightly better heavy workload score
60 %

Free CPU Benchmark

Want to compare your processor against the Core i9-10900 and the Core i5-12400? Download our free and quick PC Performance Test.

Other Benchmarks

3DMark Physics score

3DMark Physics score

Physics simulation benchmark

12075
29% slightly higher 3DMark Physics score
9345
Blender score

Blender score

Cycles Render (Samples per minute)

212.99
19% slightly higher Blender score
178.67
Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

7743
8911
15% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (multi) score
Geekbench 5 (single) score

Geekbench 5 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

1567
2130
35% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (single) score
Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

8497
8795
3% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (multi) score
Geekbench 6 (single) score

Geekbench 6 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

1692
2138
26% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (single) score

Specifications

Cores

Number of physical processing units

10
66% significantly more cores
6

Threads

Number of logical processing units

20
66% significantly more threads
12

Clock Speed

Base frequency at which the chip operates

2.8 GHz
11% slightly higher clock speed
2.5 GHz

Turbo Speed

Higher frequency used for heavy workloads

5.2 GHz
18% slightly higher turbo speed
4.4 GHz

TDP

Thermal Design Power: Measure of heat generated by the CPU

65 W
Identical
65 W

PCIe Lanes

Number of physical connections between the CPU and expansion slots

16
20
25% slightly more pcie lanes

Memory Channels

Lanes for simultaneous memory access

2
Identical
2

Supported Memory

Maximum amount of RAM supported by this CPU

128 GiB
Identical
128 GiB

L1 Cache

Smallest embedded memory, but the fastest

640 KiB
33% slightly more L1 cache
480 KiB

L3 Cache

General memory pool for all cores

20 MiB
11% slightly more L3 cache
18 MiB

Other details

Rank

Ranking in the hardwareDB database

40th of 627
60th of 627

Family

The product line

10th Generation Core i9
12th Generation Core i5

Release date

The official date of release of this chip

May 2020
February 2022

Memory Type

The type of memory used by this chip

DDR4-2933
DDR5-4800

Is Unlocked

Can this CPU can be overclocked

No
No

Supports ECC memory

Does this CPU support error correcting memory

No
-

Core i9-10900 vs Core i5-12400 benchmarks

In our benchmarks, the Core i9-10900 beats the Core i5-12400 in overall performance. Despite this, the Core i5-12400 has the advantage in our gaming benchmark.

In terms of the number of cores of each of these CPUs, the Core i9-10900 has significantly more cores than the Core i5-12400. Indeed, the Core i9-10900 has 10 cores compared to 6 cores found in the Core i5-12400. It also has more threads than the Core i5-12400. With our hardware info, we find that the Core i9-10900 has a slightly higher clock speed than the Core i5-12400. Also, the Core i9-10900 has a slightly higher turbo speed. Both these chips have an identical TDP (Thermal Design Power). 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 i9-10900 has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.

Comments

No comments yet! Be the first to leave a comment using the form below.

Keep comments on topic and be polite. Comments are subject to moderation before they are published.

Popular CPU Comparisons