Intel Core i3 12300/12100 outperform AMD quad-core APUs
AMD’s absence in the entry-level CPU market will soon take its toll once ‘locked’ 12th Gen Core i3 and i5 CPUs will be announced.
Over at Chiphell, a leaker “热心市民描边怪” published a series of reviews featuring quad-core Intel i3-12100 and i3-12300 processors. A third review features Core i5-12400 which is a 6-core part. Each of those SKUs represents the cheapest Alder Lake-S lineup, which is to be announced in early January. The review features qualification samples of the three SKUs: QYVQ, QYVR, QYHW, QTVM, each likely to represent near-identical performance to the retail samples.
Intel Core i3-12300/12100, Source: Chiphell
Interestingly, there were two qualification samples of the i5-12400 CPU, the C0 and H0 revisions. The latter should be based on the new Alder Lake desktop die which lacks Efficient cores, while the C0 is a cut-down version of existing high-performance desktop chips. There is no performance difference between the two dies, but there are some changes in terms of power consumption and heat generation. However those are small and as the reviewer claims, so this should have no impact on the decision making which 12400 version to grab (in case Intel releases both models to the market).
Intel Core i5-12400 CO (left) H0 (right), Source: Chiphell
All CPUs were tested with Apacer NOX DDR4-4266 MHz memory and Z690/X570 platforms.
Intel 12th Gen Core CPU-Z Specs, Source: Chiphell
The synthetic data featured in those reviews for the quad-core CPUs have been conveniently put together by guys over at 3DCenter.
Quad-Core Alder Lake-S in synthetic tests, Source: 3DCenter
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – Cinebench R20, Source: Chiphell
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – Cinebench R23, Source: Chiphell
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – CPU-Z, Source: Chiphell
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – AIDA64 Power Consumption, Source: Chiphell
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – AIDA64 Temperature, Source: Chiphell
Intel Core i3-12300/12100 & i5-12400 – Counter Strike Global Offensive, Source: Chiphell
Alder Lake CPUs can have a lead in gaming performance by up to 33% over the AMD lineup. AMD processors in quad-core space are mainly based on Zen2 “Renoir” microarchitecture with Zen3 “Cezanne” APUs being hardly available for the DIY market. However, even the AMD Zen3 APUs such as 5350G can barely catch up in synthetic tests, the reviewer claims. This situation is unlikely to change till AMD releases its Renoir-X series which lacks integrated graphics. The Core i3 12100/12300 CPUs should cost around 800 to 900 RMB (125-141 USD) which does not account for an H610/B660 motherboard.
The Core i5-12400 hexa-core CPU might launch two variants. The H0 which uses a full die without Efficient cores offers lower temperature and lower power consumption, however, it does not offer higher performance, the reviewer claims. This CPU will compete directly with Ryzen 5 5600G desktop APU, with 5600X clearly offering better performance in some games, but not necessarily in synthetic tests.
Intel’s 12th Gen Core non-K lineup is to be announced during CES 2022 press conference on January 4th. The new 65W CPU series are to be accompanied by a launch of the B660 and H610 mid-range and entry-level motherboards.
Source: Chiphell i5-12400, Chiphell 12100/12300, 3DCenter.org, Wccftech
