Intel Core i5 12400F vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X- Which One Should You Buy?

After the entrance of Intel Alder Lake CPUs, the CPU market once again shook as AMD already gained a lot of share in the market. For mid-end gaming systems, Intel has the Core i5 12400F while AMD has its popular Ryzen 5600x CPU that dethroned all the processors from the previous generations.

Intel Core i5 12400F, however, is very competitive and costs less than the 5600X while bringing similar specs. We need to see how much different are they from each other and what are the reasons you should consider before opting for any of these two CPUs.

In this article, we will compare the specifications, synthetic performance, gaming performance, motherboard and RAM compatibility, and performance value to declare a winner.

Specification

Intel Core i5 12400F Summary

The Core i5 12400F is designed in a different way than the previous gen. All Alder Lake CPUs are a combination of Performance and Power-Efficient Cores. Here, the Core i5 12400F doesn’t have any PE cores but only 6 Perf. cores. This allows the processor to max out the performance in applications and games. Moreover, hyperthreading allows better performance in CPU-intensive apps and multi-tasking.

Although the processor is locked, it features decent clock frequencies ranging from 2.5GHz up to 4.4GHz. Intel also allows it to draw more power than its predecessors which ranges from 65W all the way up to 117W. So, maintaining higher clock frequencies is easier especially when a decent CPU cooler is used. And lastly, the best thing about it is the support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory support that allows a good performance bump with the latter and we currently have many 600 series motherboards that come with DDR5 DIMM slots.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Summary

Ryzen 5 5600X is based on Zen 3 architecture that is roughly 19% faster in IPC than Zen 2. It’s also superior in design to the previous Ryzen processors as it allows the chip to access all the L3 cache memory directly. It features 6 cores and 12 threads clocked at 3.7/4.6GHz and is overclockable as well. This means you can go beyond 4.6GHz with the help of a good CPU Cooler and can achieve noticeably higher performance both in gaming and non-gaming apps.

It has a big L3 cache memory of 32MB and features a default TDP of 65W that may increase if the frequency is higher. Ryzen 5600X supports only DDR4 memories and is compatible with all the AM4 socket motherboards irrespective of the chipsets.

Synthetic Benchmarks

According to UserBenchmark, the i5 12400F is around 6% faster in single-core and 1% faster in multi-core performance than the Ryzen 5600X.

Jarrod’s Tech-

If we consider independent reviewers, the first one which is Jarrod’s Tech compared the two chips in multiple CPU-intensive applications. As the results are similar in every application, here are the two benchmarks that summarize the difference between the two-

In both Blender and Cinebench 23, it is clear that the i5 12400F is noticeably faster in both single and multi-core tests.

Tomshardware-

The average single-core performance of the Intel Core i5 12400F in different applications is roughly 10% higher than the Ryzen 5600X. The performance gap is similar in multi-threaded tests as well. However, the gap decreases by a 1-2% margin when the Ryzen 5600X uses PBO. These tests show a similar performance difference between the two processors as shown by other independent reviewers.

Gaming Performance

There are a lot of gaming benchmarks available for both. We will take a few to see if the results are similar.

TechSpot-

TechSpot benchmarked 9 different games with different graphics cards ranging from RTX 3060 all the way to RTX 3090 Ti. This gives a clear insight if any of these CPUs bottleneck the graphics cards. As you can see below, there is hardly any difference in fps numbers unless we use a powerful GPU like a 3080 or 3090 Ti. This shows that if you use mid-end GPUs like RTX 3060 or 3070, you will get similar performance with both CPUs. The only noticeable difference in most cases is the 1% lows where the i5 12400F beats the 5600X.

Testing Games-

Testing Games is the most popular comparison channel that used an RTX 3090 for comparing the 12400F and 5600X. 8 Games were compared where some games saw almost no difference between the two and some saw as high as 20% performance gain with the i5 12400F. This shows that the i5 12400F is a little faster in gaming overall.

Jarrod’s Tech-

Jarrod’s Tech also compared the two chips in several games where some games were favoring the 5600X and vice versa. So, technically, they tie with each other with i5 12400F having somewhat a little improvement over the 5600X.

Motherboard Compatibility

Intel Core i5 12400F is compatible with the LGA 1700 socket and there are only three chipsets available with this socket that are- Z690, B660, and H610. On the other hand, the Ryzen 5600X is compatible with the AM4 socket which has 8 chipsets including all the 300, 400, and 500 chipsets. With the latest BIOS updates, the 5600X is compatible with all the chipsets available with the AM4 socket.

RAM Compatibility

Out of the box, the Core i5 12400F is compatible with both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM kits. The official support frequencies are 3200MHz and 4800MHz with DDR4 and DDR5 respectively. For Ryzen 5600X, the support is only for DDR4 memories, and the official support frequency out of the box is 3200MHz. However, both processors can support higher frequencies with overclocking with 5600X having the ability to improve better with higher clock speeds.

Reasons to Choose Intel Core i5 12400F

Core i5 12400F is officially priced at $175 which is almost $125 less than the initial MSRP of 5600X. The processor has matches and even outperforms the 5600X in gaming and non-gaming applications by a noticeable margin while giving a significantly higher price-to-performance ratio. The processor is locked which also allows a reduction in the overall expense of the entire PC build if the user chooses to go with a locked chipset like H610.

i5 12400F also supports DDR5 out of the box and that makes it a better choice for future upgradability and allows it to gain more performance in gaming and non-gaming applications.

BUY FROM AMAZON [wp-svg-icons icon=”cart” wrap=”i”]

Reasons to Choose AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

While initially launched for more than $300 USD, due to getting outperformed by the i5 12400F for a much lower price, AMD has cut its price by nearly $100 which makes it a fair choice for gaming. The best benefit of going with the 5600X is the availability of several chipsets and its ability to overclock. It is also more power-efficient than the i5 12400F and with the help of overclocking and Precision Boost Overdrive, it closes the gap to match the performance of the i5 12400F.

BUY FROM AMAZON [wp-svg-icons icon=”cart” wrap=”i”]