Intel Alder Lake News: i5-12400 Benchmarks Leak Out; 5th Gen Ryzen 5 Is NO MATCH

Intel Alder Lake benchmark leaks just keep coming, it seems. Now, this one is for the mid-range, mainstream users who won't technically need super-high-end chips.

This latest leaked benchmark is of the Core i5-12400, which according to Digital Trends, is going to sport a respectable six cores and 12 threads. However, it's built differently compared to its brothers, as it's not a hybrid.

Before we go to the architecture itself, here are the leaked benchmark numbers. Shared first on the Chinese Bilibili forum before being spotted by Twitter user @9550pro, these still-unconfirmed performance numbers are impressive:

One of the first tests is Cinebench, where the mid-range Intel Alder Lake chip tallied a higher single-core score than every single AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU with 659 cb.

Next, the leak also showcased some built-in CPU-Z benchmark numbers, with the 12400 scorings 681.7 in single-core/thread.

As for the multi-threaded performance, the mid-range Intel Alder Lake chip is also no slouch. It scored 4784 cb in Cinebench multi-core and 4983 on CPU-Z multi-core, writes Tom's Hardware.

Mid-Range Intel Alder Lake Is Different

By "different," we mean the i5-12400 is really built in a different way compared to its more expensive bigger siblings, the flagship i9-12900K and the i7-12700K.

That's because the 12400 is not featuring the vaunted big.LITTLE architecture that Intel has been marketing like crazy for its top-end 12th gen parts. Instead of having an equal number of "big" and "little" cores, the i5-12400 will only have six "big" ones (aka performance cores).

Despite the lack of this Intel Alder Lake-specific architecture change, however, the 12400 still managed to beat the current mid-range king: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.

Disruptive Pricing

The i5-12400 is not a hybrid CPU, but it could make up for its now traditional architecture with a potentially disruptive price tag.

Compared to its most direct competitor in the 5600X, which is priced at $300 MSRP, the 12400 could come close to $200.

It seems like Intel's choice to go for the full "big" Golden Cove cores still paid off. The lack of the "little" cores to handle background tasks could cripple the i5-12400's overall multi-threaded performance, but it's making up with really strong single-thread numbers--something that Team Blue has been well-known for.

Power Users, Steer Clear

For users who might be doing a lot of hardware-heavy productivity-related workloads, however, it looks like you must steer clear of the 12th gen i5 line. The i5-12400 might do a better job at gaming because of these leaked benchmarks.

This would fall in line with the most recent gaming benchmark for Intel Alder Lake, which saw the i9-12900K beat the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in "Ashes of the Singularity."

But this doesn't mean the 12400 won't be a good CPU for content creators. It still has six powerful cores and 12 threads, which is still more than enough for all but the most demanding productivity tasks.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce