# Intel Core i3-12100F



## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

Core i3-12100F is the most affordable quad-core Alder Lake CPU from Intel. In our review, we test with DDR4 and DDR5 to see whether it has what it takes to build a lean work PC or cost-efficient gaming machine. Thanks to BCLK overclocking, we even managed to overclock it to 5.2 GHz all-core.

*Show full review*


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## Lionheart (Jan 25, 2022)

Well folks, we have the perfect budget king CPU, never thought I'd say congrats to Intel, great review Wizz.


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## dirtyferret (Jan 25, 2022)




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## Selaya (Jan 25, 2022)

TO THE MOON

(while we're at it: the overclocking subpage of the review's missing) derp it's under clock frequencies


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## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

Selaya said:


> (while we're at it: the overclocking subpage of the review's missing) derp it's under clock frequencies


Good suggestion, changed the page title to start with "Overclocking", because that's what people will be scanning for


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## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

birdie said:


> Why does power consumption differ so much between DDR4 and DDR5? Wasn't the latter supposed to be more power efficient?


No idea, probably the motherboard difference plays a role here too.


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## dj-electric (Jan 25, 2022)

I have a S@$% eating grin on my face, because im about to enjoy the same kind of OC that was fun a decade ago, in just a few days too


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## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

birdie said:


> I thought you measured power consumption straight from the CPU. Hm.


It literally says "Whole System" in the chart


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## Selaya (Jan 25, 2022)

dj-electric said:


> I have a S@$% eating grin on my face, because im about to enjoy the same kind of OC that was fun a decade ago, in just a few days too


you can keep doing it, as long as they do not block it via another stepping of the CPU or something (which still cannot retroactively block it for the already shippeds) you can just keep the old BIOS
the beauty of _hardware_


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## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

birdie said:


> Lastly why is "No integrated graphics" listed under the negatives? There's Intel Core i5 12100 which costs just $122. Not an Earth shattering difference. Perhaps you could add something like "Things to note/remember" as a third column.











						Intel Core i5-12400F
					

The Intel Core i5-12400F comes at an extremely attractive price point, yet offers performance comparable to AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X. While Intel introduced a Hybrid core design with Alder Lake, the 12400F is a P-core only design, which helps avoid potential compatibility issues with E-cores.  Show...




					www.techpowerup.com


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## Selaya (Jan 25, 2022)

speaking of that you may want to amend the conclusions page to suggest a purchase of the 12100 (the non-F sibling) for general home-, business- and office tasks since buying a dgpu for it, especially given the current market's like totally asinine


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## W1zzard (Jan 25, 2022)

Selaya said:


> speaking of that you may want to amend the conclusions page to suggest a purchase of the 12100 (the non-F sibling) for general home-, business- and office tasks since buying a dgpu for it, especially given the current market's like totally asinine


Added


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## mechtech (Jan 25, 2022)

Nice performance/$…….until you have to find a graphics card.   I’m not paying $1000 CAD for an amd 6600 or nvidia 3060.   So it would be this chip with the integrated graphics.   I can’t see much of these selling due to lack of graphics cards.  If one is going to shell out for a new platform and vid card they would probably invest in a beefier cpu.  Back in the day of good performing and readily available vid cards in the $200 range this chip probably would have been very popular.   I can’t see that happening now.


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## Xuper (Jan 25, 2022)

For budget PC ( game test 1080p ) :
Core i5-12100F ~ (97.1/88.8) 9.34% faster than Ryzen 3300X (Alder Lake vs Zen2 )
Core i5-12100F ~ (97.1/78.4) 23.85% Faster than Core i3-9100F (Alder Lake vs Coffee Lake)
Core i5-12100F ~ ((97.1/84) 15.6 Faster than Core i3-10100 (Alder Lake vs Comet Lake )

So far 12100F is fastest quad cores CPU in market.


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## HD64G (Jan 25, 2022)

Thanks for the review @W1zzard ! Great vfm there! That one could force AMD to cut price at least for their 5X00G line up me thinks and bring their 5300G to the DIY market also.


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## ModEl4 (Jan 25, 2022)

Really excellent value, intel went at the same price bracket from i3 10100F to i5 10600K level of performance in 1,5 year gap, so i really wonder what AMD will offer:








						AMD allegedly preparing Renoir-X APUs without integrated graphics - VideoCardz.com
					

AMD to launch Renoir-X CPUs to tackle Intel Core i3 offering A leaker from Chiphell shares information on upcoming CPU products from both AMD and Intel.  Among many products that will be launched next year, AMD is supposedly bringing back new CPUs based on Zen2 architecture. The leaker 热心市民描边怪...




					videocardz.com
				



lol, zen 2 4000G without the graphics? 4300G launched in Q3 2020 at $149, so if AMD had launched in Q3 2020 a 4300 without graphics they would be forced to sell it at $108 MAX (-10% from a $120 3300X and +$10 from an i3 10100F if you add the extra lga1200 M/B cost) so if $108 was the competitive price to sell a 4300-igp in Q3 2020, after 1,5year what AMD has to offer to make the same jump in performance as Intel? because i have the feeling that they want to sell a +200MHz 4300 without igp at $99 and this is really ripoff just like 6500XT, we will see...


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## Space Lynx (Jan 25, 2022)

If W1zzy boyo was on Intel forums he would have as many infraction points as I have here!  

Intel says, "we condemn BCLK overclocking immensely!"

W1zzy Boyo says, "this is going into my pro list, oh yeah baby!"


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## seth1911 (Jan 25, 2022)

Great deal from Intel for retail customers, AMD will become many problems in the Retail Market.


Amd have no Retail CPU against many CPU from Intel (here is the *cheapest one a 3000G for about 95€*):

Celeron G5900 45€

Pentium Gold G6400 59€

I3 10100F 80€
I3 12100F 109€

I5 10400F 135€
i5 11400F 157€
I5 12400F 179€

Ryzen 3600 231€
Ryzen 5600X 277€


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## catulitechup (Jan 25, 2022)

@W1zzard hi apparently pentium g7400 also oc, maybe good see a test from house



> Intel's $64 Pentium Gold G7400T Alder Lake CPU Overclocked to 5.8 GHz
> 
> 
> One of the fastest dual-core CPUs ever.
> ...


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## wheresmycar (Jan 25, 2022)

Selaya said:


> speaking of that you may want to amend the conclusions page to suggest a purchase of the 12100 (the non-F sibling) for general home-, business- and office tasks since buying a dgpu for it, especially given the current market's like totally asinine



good point! Thats exactly what i was thinking. Its bad value if having to purchase a GPU for basic use.


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## TheUn4seen (Jan 25, 2022)

Alder Lake seems line a fairly great showing from Intel. I'm not one for overclocking as I'm not someone who does a lot of CPU-heavy things at home, and for this kind of general usage plus some games (with the 3080 and at 3840x2160 so not CPU limited), there is little point in going higher than the 12100 or, at most, 12400. In all fairness, there is little point in upgrading from my current stock 9600k. This is good.


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## Sithaer (Jan 25, 2022)

Yup good stuff in this price range which is my preferred budget range anyway and I only care about gaming.
Like its mentioned in the review AMD has nothing to offer in this range currently and even the second hand 3600/x is overpriced where I live so its just not worth it imo and rather switch to a new platform that will last me a good while again. _'I have my current mobo+cpu since 2018'_

At this point the IPC/single thread uplift vs my CPU is just hard to ignore and some games I play/will play soon rely on that so ye I could use that.

What I'm gonna do is wait till my march payment from my work and then check availability and prices and then decide, but If I do end up retiring my 1600x then this will be my next CPU with some affordable B660 since I don't care about OC.
Heck even the stock cooler seems to be reasonable for gaming only until I buy something better.

_Obviously I'm gonna sell my current mobo+cpu after so thats also a - from the overall cost so its not even that much._


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## Turmania (Jan 25, 2022)

I don`t know why, but I love this cpu now a good motherboard around the same price of this cpu, probably would be higher but not by much, it would be great for 1080P systems.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 25, 2022)

I wouldn't mind building me a very budget minded rig with this chip and say an old 1070 ti or 1080 ti, assuming gpu prices come down to what they should be... but they probably won't so that makes this statement null.


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## Garrus (Jan 25, 2022)

Lionheart said:


> Well folks, we have the perfect budget king CPU, never thought I'd say congrats to Intel, great review Wizz.
> 
> View attachment 233922



100 percent this is Intel's best CPU in the current market environment. Thanks Intel for keeping quad cores going. I still think that since computers are quite expensive overall the extra money to reach the 12600k is worth it. But at $150 there's no competition, period. There does seem to be a bunch of tricks regarding MSRP so I'm not sure if the 12100's price is sustainable. "$40 off" the launch price on Newegg? What is the actual long term price for the 12100, we'll see.



mechtech said:


> Nice performance/$…….until you have to find a graphics card.   I’m not paying $1000 CAD for an amd 6600 or nvidia 3060.   So it would be this chip with the integrated graphics.   I can’t see much of these selling due to lack of graphics cards.  If one is going to shell out for a new platform and vid card they would probably invest in a beefier cpu.  Back in the day of good performing and readily available vid cards in the $200 range this chip probably would have been very popular.   I can’t see that happening now.



Radeon 6600 is easy to find for $670 CAD plus tax. It's not $1000.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jan 25, 2022)

f**k me. If had the money right now - I would totally get myself one of these chips for 5.2Ghz HAHA

How soon before board vendors start patching the '_exploit_' out at Intels request though?


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## bug (Jan 26, 2022)

@W1zzard Small boo-boo on the first page. The article says "a shared L3 cache that's only 18 MB", the table says 12MB.

Otherwise a capable little bastard. But perhaps not as surprising if you consider if this was Kaby Lake, it would be an i7.


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## Crackong (Jan 26, 2022)

To be honest

No E-cores should be a Pro.

The BCLK overclocking won't be that smooth if there is any e-cores in the way.


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## xBruce88x (Jan 26, 2022)

dj-electric said:


> I have a S@$% eating grin on my face, because im about to enjoy the same kind of OC that was fun a decade ago, in just a few days too


Yes, basically how I used to overclock Pentium D's and Pentium E series back in the day. Some athlon and phenom2s as well.

Memory could get tricky... Depending on the overclock I'd have to "underclock" the ram speed but then the other overclock would bring it back up. Had to mess with ram/fsb ratios too


This performance gives me hope for the Steam Deck CPU cores being good enough. 4 core 8 thread much like this chip in the review. Looking forward to reviews of Steam Deck cpu.

Wizzard, do you plan to do a cpu review of the steam deck? Gpu review too? Etc.


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## Metroid (Jan 26, 2022)

The best budget cpu till intel finds a way to lock it hehe, I hope they let this generation go, i'm sure they will lock the next generation.


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## Voodoo Rufus (Jan 26, 2022)

I'm highly amused at the 4K gaming performance. Really begs the question of why buy a $300-600 CPU when this does the job fine, on a little quad core no less. Aside from, "because we can".

It would be nice if Intel would bring back an unlocked small core count chip like they did with the 9350K. Unobtanium pretty much stateside, but sometimes it's fun to take little cheap chips and clock the snot out of them.


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## Mats (Jan 26, 2022)

I don't see many comments about the need for DDR5 when overclocking. Yeah, the 12100F is a great budget choice, but 32 GB premium DDR5 isn't (if 32 GB is what you need).

I wonder what makes most sense in terms of cost, 12100F and DDR5, 12100F and DDR4 and a faster GPU, or an i5 and DDR4. It could be an interesting comparison, especially for those that doesn't use it with a $$$$ 3080 or similar anyway, which is a pretty small minority.

Yeah you might think that DDR4 is dead, but remember that we're not talking premium CPU's here, so trying to keep the cost down is nothing unexpected. But then there's the question whether the next CPU generation will work with DDR4, which I guess it will.


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## Crackong (Jan 26, 2022)

Mats said:


> I don't see many comments about the need for DDR5 when overclocking. Yeah, this is a great budget CPU choice, but 32 GB premium DDR5 isn't (if 32 GB is what you need).
> 
> I wonder what makes most sense in terms of cost, 12100F and DDR5, 12100F and DDR4 and a faster GPU, or an i5 and DDR4. It could be and interesting comparison, especially for those that doesn't use it with a $$$$ 3080 or similar anyway, which is a pretty small minority.
> 
> Yeah you might think that DDR4 is dead, but remember that we're not talking premium CPU's here, so trying to keep the cost down is nothing unexpected. But then there's the question whether the next CPU generation will work with DDR4, which I guess it will.


MB makers just need to make D4 boards with external clock gen, then the magic happens......


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## Mats (Jan 26, 2022)

Are there any DDR4 boards with an external clock generator for this CPU? Otherwise, the need for DDR5 for serious overclocking is definitely a *CON*.



Crackong said:


> MB makers just need to make D4 boards with external clock gen, then the magic happens......


Well we all know that by then there's a big chance that Intel have stopped this from happening with updated code.
Next CPU generation will certainly need a BIOS update that will block this.


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## mechtech (Jan 26, 2022)

Garrus said:


> 100 percent this is Intel's best CPU in the current market environment. Thanks Intel for keeping quad cores going. I still think that since computers are quite expensive overall the extra money to reach the 12600k is worth it. But at $150 there's no competition, period. There does seem to be a bunch of tricks regarding MSRP so I'm not sure if the 12100's price is sustainable. "$40 off" the launch price on Newegg? What is the actual long term price for the 12100, we'll see.
> 
> 
> 
> Radeon 6600 is easy to find for $670 CAD plus tax. It's not $1000.


Have some links?   No stores up where I live.  I usually stick to Newegg and or amazon.  Most of them come up at $750-$950 not including the 13% HST.  Even then this is supposed to be $420CAD msrp card.   And you’re correct.  I should have said in the neighborhood of $1000 after taxes and shipping.


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## Mats (Jan 26, 2022)

mechtech said:


> Have some links?   No stores up where I live.  I usually stick to Newegg and or amazon.  Most of them come up at $750-$950 not including the 13% HST.  Even then this is supposed to be $420CAD msrp card.   And you’re correct.  I should have said in the neighborhood of $1000 after taxes and shipping.


Yeah, I don't understand the current GPU pricing. Like why are RTX 3080 cards so much more expensive in the US than in Europe?


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## Garrus (Jan 26, 2022)

mechtech said:


> Have some links?   No stores up where I live.  I usually stick to Newegg and or amazon.  Most of them come up at $750-$950 not including the 13% HST.  Even then this is supposed to be $420CAD msrp card.   And you’re correct.  I should have said in the neighborhood of $1000 after taxes and shipping.


Ah well they are still selling out a lot.

Langley, Victoria, London, Ottawa.

XFX SPEEDSTER SWFT 210 Radeon RX 6600 CORE 8GB w/ HDMI, Triple DP - PCI-E Video Cards - Memory Express Inc.


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## Upgrayedd (Jan 26, 2022)

This is the cpu I was looking at upgrading to from 4th gen intel but am still worried about RT performance being hit hard by the lack of cores.


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## Forza.Milan (Jan 26, 2022)

so, right now, intel is our friendly neighbours and amd playing role as villain


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## Crackong (Jan 26, 2022)

Forza.Milan said:


> so, right now, intel is our friendly neighbours and amd playing role as villain


Pretty sure Intel will soon "FIX" this "issue" and force you to buy K SKUs for any meaningful overclocking.


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## Tsukiyomi91 (Jan 26, 2022)

all hail the new quad-core budget CPU king. Too bad AMD no longer compete in this budget space, leaving Intel taking up all the market profits straight to their pocket.
Also, this CPU with a STRIX B660 and a strong PSU on top with an AIO is all it takes to OC this i3 to the moon. No need LN2 or exotic cooling while STILL retaining the chip's C-states.


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## Forza.Milan (Jan 26, 2022)

i have found a typo, and maybe no just in this article, but in others before as well


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## watzupken (Jan 26, 2022)

Given all the non K overclocking results going around, I feel at some point, Intel is going to clamp down on this. This is almost the case with AMD introducing the X and non X variant of CPU. The non X variant tend to sell a lot better since it can be overclocked to match a X variant. Other benefit of going for lower end Alder Lake is the lack of e-cores, which means no need to switch to Win 11.



Voodoo Rufus said:


> I'm highly amused at the 4K gaming performance. Really begs the question of why buy a $300-600 CPU when this does the job fine, on a little quad core no less. Aside from, "because we can".
> 
> It would be nice if Intel would bring back an unlocked small core count chip like they did with the 9350K. Unobtanium pretty much stateside, but sometimes it's fun to take little cheap chips and clock the snot out of them.


4K gaming performance is almost always bottlenecked by the GPU, so more cores will not do much good.

However, more cores is better in a sense that if there are CPU intensive background processes running, the extra cores may come online to run and complete the tasks. This should help keep the minimal FPS consistent and higher. I believe most test systems used in reviews don't have that many things running in the background to emulate some users' usage patterns. So I think we should always consider our use cases, and take reviews with a pinch of salt since it is probably the best case scenario.


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## Outback Bronze (Jan 26, 2022)

Nice review yet again W1z.

Um just wondering though,
Is it possible to put some extra games in that take advantage of more CPU cores? I know easier said than done. It looks like Civilization VI is the only game that looks optimized for more cores.
Ill tell you for my reasoning. Its looking like a quad core is sufficient for gaming when this is not always the case. There needs to be some sort of defining difference between 10C/20T and 4C/8T just to show that sometimes you will need something more than 4C/8T. Yes I agree its got a higher ipc but surely it can't compete with say a 10900K in a highly threaded game?
From you graphs it tells me that all I need for gaming is a 4C/8T. Im thinking you need a couple of games to show where a difference in cores can be more of a deciding factor in your conclusion on which CPU to buy. Fully understand is this is not possible.
Not taking anything away from this gem of a cpu.

Thanks.


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## W1zzard (Jan 26, 2022)

xBruce88x said:


> Wizzard, do you plan to do a cpu review of the steam deck? Gpu review too? Etc.


highly unlikely, havent worked with valve on this at all yet



Forza.Milan said:


> View attachment 233964
> 
> i have found a typo, and maybe no just in this article, but in others before as well


fixed



Outback Bronze said:


> Im thinking you need a couple of games to show where a difference in cores can be more of a deciding factor


like which game?


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## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

I feel the headline is invalid, because the OC is completely useless at this point to any actual buyers in that a $600 motherboard and $400 RAM was used, so the headline should be something like 'great value gaming chip', which it is, for many people, whereas the OC isn't actually useful to any real users.

The cheapest motherboard that works is around $250 and then you still need $300 RAM.

I mean there's a solid use case here, which is something like:

* used GPU from ebay/wherever, probably 4GB
* DDR4-3200 C16 RAM
* H610M motherboard (I've not seen any evidence that the B660M is worth the extra $ at this price point)

For $40 more (when you take into account CPU + board) than a 10100f-based system you get:

* PCIE 4.0
* typically 6 main power phases rather than 4
* native 3200 MHz RAM speed (rather than 2933)
* about 30% more CPU performance
* better upgradability

So it's $40 more well-spent at the low-end, but I can't see how it can be worth building this thing into anything other than a very budget setup, i.e., cheap board, DDR4 RAM, used GPU.


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## Outback Bronze (Jan 26, 2022)

W1zzard said:


> highly unlikely, havent worked with valve on this at all yet
> 
> 
> fixed
> ...



Good question. I can do some research if you like? I thought you'd have a better idea than me. I'm not much of a gamer theses days sadly so don't really know of any first hand. I'm only governed by your reviews which is why I'm saying it can come in handy.

I would really like you to decide which games can be added.

In all honesty I just thought it might make your review process more thorough.


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## W1zzard (Jan 26, 2022)

Outback Bronze said:


> Good question. I can do some research if you like? I thought you'd have a better idea than me. I'm no much of a gamer theses days sadly so don't really know of any first hand. I'm only governed by your reviews which is why I'm saying it can come in handy.
> 
> I would really like you to decide which games can be added.
> 
> In all honesty I just thought it might make your review process more thorough.


Sure, go for it, but don't look at edge cases or stuff that nobody plays


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## Selaya (Jan 26, 2022)

the only game that i can think of that does put a load on your cpu (well, _eventually_ i guess, when your city gets large enough) that isn't like a meme's, cities: dlcs
steam stats playercount attached below

not sure how you'd bench it tho so there's that


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## Ferrum Master (Jan 26, 2022)

Basically you buy a Celeron and turn it to FSB133.

Brings up memories...


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## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

Outback Bronze said:


> From you graphs it tells me that all I need for gaming is a 4C/8T. Im thinking you need a couple of games to show where a difference in cores can be more of a deciding factor in your conclusion on which CPU to buy. Fully understand is this is not possible.


I suspect 4C/8T is enough.

If you check out this:


			https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/j82J9WVbxffbxBHrn3KwQ5-970-80.png.webp
		


the 4C/4T i3-9 gets crushed on frametimes by Flight Simulator

Same story here at 128-player Battlefield 2042 (with the i3-8)



			https://static.techspot.com/articles-info/2370/bench/3.png
		


The 4C/8T i3-10 does fine in the same test.

Also:









						Microsoft Flight Simulator - Op reis met Ryzen 5000 en GeForce 3000
					

Met een uitgebreide selectie processors en videokaarten gingen we aan de slag in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020). In dit artikel vind je alle benchmarks.




					tweakers.net
				




the now 4C/8T i3-10, with an RTX 3090, is identical to a 6C/12T i5-10.

So in fact for gaming any 10th-gen or newer i3 or better is 'fine', because 8T (or more).


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## Richards (Jan 26, 2022)

Golden cove cores are truly  golden


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## Outback Bronze (Jan 26, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> I suspect 4C/8T is enough.



The minimum frame rate is where the problem seems to lie atm. No real issues with avg.

I'm just starting to do some research now and with the more modern games cores pending, it seems to be the minimum frame rate suffering with 4C/8T.

Will do some more investigating and report back : )

This will take some time..

Edit: Here check out FC6 with RT on for example.

Far Cry 6 PC Performance Review and Optimisation Guide | CPU Performance & Core Scaling - Is Far Cry 6 CPU-limited? | Software | OC3D Review (overclock3d.net)


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## seth1911 (Jan 26, 2022)

But its an 3950X scaled down, not a Alder Lake.


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## bug (Jan 26, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> I suspect 4C/8T is enough.
> 
> If you check out this:
> 
> ...


It's a bit more complicated than that. Play at 4k, high details and the CPU is almost irrelevant. Play at FHD, lower the details in exchange for high-refresh and the CPU can suddenly become a bottleneck again.

And even when the CPU makes a difference, it has to be a significant one. If one CPU is, say, 20% faster than another, what does that give you? Where you had a 20fps min, you now have 24; where you had 100fps avg, you now have 120. Not something to write home about. It may let you turn a few settings up a notch, but that's it. It's part of the reason I never had a problem skipping CPU generations: the ROI simply wasn't there.


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## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

bug said:


> It's a bit more complicated than that. Play at 4k, high details and the CPU is almost irrelevant. Play at FHD, lower the detail  in exchange for high-refresh and the CPU can suddenly become a bottleneck again.
> 
> And even when the CPU makes a difference, it has to be a significant one. If one CPU is, say, 20% faster than another, what does that give you? Where you had a 20fps min, you now have 24; where you had 100fps avg, you now have 120. Not something to write home about. It may let you turn a few settings up a notch, but that's it. It's part of the reason I never had a problem skipping CPU generations: the ROI simply wasn't there.


That wasn't really the point though.... The OP was asking if w1zzard can find some benchmarks which would make this 4C/8T CPU look really weak compared to a 6C/12T CPU. Not, 'should you scrap your existing PC', it was 'am I taking a big risk buying an i3', to which the answer seems to be 'no', because even the worst case doesn't seem to be that bad.



Outback Bronze said:


> Edit: Here check out FC6 with RT on for example.
> 
> Far Cry 6 PC Performance Review and Optimisation Guide | CPU Performance & Core Scaling - Is Far Cry 6 CPU-limited? | Software | OC3D Review (overclock3d.net)


The min framerate results on the 4C/8T results there are kinda doubtful tbh.  Why would they be so much weaker than the 4C/4T?


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## W1zzard (Jan 26, 2022)

I doubt there's much difference in frametimes between Ryzen 3900X and 3950X. Architecture matters here, much more than core count


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## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

Whilst this may be the budget CPU champion in isolation, what's the cheapest worthwhile S1700 board cost?

AFAIK the low-end motherboards supporting this CPU are all $139.99 whilst you can pick up equivalent-spec previous generation motherboards for $50-60 less.

When you look at what CPUs you can get for an extra $50-60 on top of the $105 asking price of this i3, it's suddenly not looking like such great value.

Don't get me wrong, it's still competitive, but it merely matches all the other options, rather than outright dominating them in the charts.


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## bug (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> Whilst this may be the budget CPU champion in isolation, what's the cheapest worthwhile S1700 board cost?
> 
> AFAIK the low-end motherboards supporting this CPU are all $139.99 whilst you can pick up equivalent-spec previous generation motherboards for $50-60 less.
> 
> ...


Boards for these have just been launched. Give it a couple of months, I'm sure the prices will settle down nicely.
And it's not strictly about costs, you get fast USB, PCIe4...

The CPU is a gem. Whether the platform as a whole is worth it to you, that, as always, depends on what you need.


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## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

bug said:


> Boards for these have just been launched. Give it a couple of months, I'm sure the prices will settle down nicely.
> And it's not strictly about costs, you get fast USB, PCIe4...
> 
> The CPU is a gem. Whether the platform as a whole is worth it to you, that, as always, depends on what you need.


Aye.
I'm always hesitant to endorse something based on the unproven expectation that prices will come down in the future. That thinking has failed us all quite a few times in the last couple of years! Whilst B660 is new, the launch price of them is far higher than B560 and B460 offerings ever were.

By the time Intel B660 boards come down in price, AMD may have slashed $100 off their old Zen3 lineup or (unlikely) expanded their entry-level offerings to include new 4C/8T and 6C/12T options to counter entry-level Alder Lake!

So yeah, I deal in the "now" and will re-evaluate the value of the entire platform if and when the prices change in the future.


----------



## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> Whilst this may be the budget CPU champion in isolation, what's the cheapest worthwhile S1700 board cost?
> 
> AFAIK the low-end motherboards supporting this CPU are all $139.99 whilst you can pick up equivalent-spec previous generation motherboards for $50-60 less.
> 
> ...



Asrock B660M HDV is $95 (https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813162055). There's a USB-C 3.2 port, 2 USB 3.2 ports, 1 USB 3.2 header, PCIE 4.0 x 16, plus 2 x1 slots, two M.2 slots (4x4, 3x4), 3 fan headers, DisplayPort & HDMI, & D-SUB, even a slot for M.2 wifi card.

The power & cooling is nothing special, but it beats any board at $95 you would pair with the only available competing chip, the i3-10100/10105.

Like, it's $80 for an H510M-A Pro, which seems to be the cheapest L1200 board, but that board is much worse - only 1 M.2 slot, no USB C, no PCIE 4.0 (because 10th gen), only 1 x1 slot, only 1 fan header, no wifi option.

At the moment availability on cheap boards is still poor in most territories. But within a few weeks a 10th-gen build is going to look stupid.


----------



## W1zzard (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> what's the cheapest worthwhile S1700 board cost?


Depends on your definition of worthwhile, how about ASRock B660M-HDV for 110 euros (including VAT)?


----------



## bug (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> Aye.
> I'm always hesitant to endorse something based on the unproven expectation that prices will come down in the future. That thinking has failed us all quite a few times in the last couple of years! Whilst B660 is new, the launch price of them is far higher than B560 and B460 offerings ever were.
> 
> By the time Intel B660 boards come down in price, AMD may have slashed $100 off their old Zen3 lineup or (unlikely) expanded their entry-level offerings to include new 4C/8T and 6C/12T options to counter entry-level Alder Lake!
> ...


Nobody endorsed anything. This was all about the CPU till you brought the whole platform in discussion. Which is a fair point, if someone was asking for advice to build a new PC. But this thread is about a CPU review


----------



## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

there are some very cheap boards listed here also:






						Search results for: 'b660m'
					

At AWD-IT, we are proud to provide innovative IT products and solutions. Our team have over 50 years of collective intelligence in the industry. Shop today!




					www.awd-it.co.uk
				




Asrock H610M-HVS (no M.2 slot!) £47/$64 + tax

No stock, but at that price Pentium builds also become interesting.


----------



## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

bug said:


> Nobody endorsed anything. This was all about the CPU till you brought the whole platform in discussion. Which is a fair point, if someone was asking for advice to build a new PC. But this thread is about a CPU review


Yeah, for any product that mandates a new board and cannot fit into prior-gen boards, there's no such thing as a CPU in isolation. You HAVE to treat it as a total platform from a costing/upgrade path because there's no way not to. Same was true for Comet Lake, Skylake and Haswell too.


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## seth1911 (Jan 26, 2022)

W1zzard said:


> Depends on your definition of worthwhile, how about ASRock B660M-HDV for 110 euros (including VAT)?


Asus H610 92€
Asrock B660 102€
Gigabyte B660 115€


----------



## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> Asrock B660M HDV is $95 (https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813162055). There's a USB-C 3.2 port, 2 USB 3.2 ports, 1 USB 3.2 header, PCIE 4.0 x 16, plus 2 x1 slots, two M.2 slots (4x4, 3x4), 3 fan headers, DisplayPort & HDMI, & D-SUB, even a slot for M.2 wifi card.
> 
> The power & cooling is nothing special, but it beats any board at $95 you would pair with the only available competing chip, the i3-10100/10105.
> 
> ...


This is the kind of discussion I come here for.

H610 vs H510 is going to be interesting because H510 was a write-off in terms of performance/$ and everyone ignored it (even many OEMs and SIs)
H610 may gain traction as it's lacking so many features that B660 has it may be significantly cheaper - and for a single GPU build the only real downside other than fewer overall ports and slots is the loss of PCIe 4.0 storage. I don't think that's a deal breaker as many SSDs are still only PCIe 3.0 and real-world performance implications of running a PCIe 4.0 SSD in a PCIe 3.0 slot aren't really noticeable outside of a synthetic benchmark.


----------



## bug (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> Yeah, for any product that mandates a new board and cannot fit into prior-gen boards, there's no such thing as a CPU in isolation. You HAVE to treat it as a total platform from a costing/upgrade path because there's no way not to. Same was true for Comet Lake, Skylake and Haswell too.


If you're buying, maybe. As an electrical engineer, a CPU is interesting enough on its own.


----------



## mechtech (Jan 26, 2022)

Garrus said:


> Ah well they are still selling out a lot.
> 
> Langley, Victoria, London, Ottawa.
> 
> XFX SPEEDSTER SWFT 210 Radeon RX 6600 CORE 8GB w/ HDMI, Triple DP - PCI-E Video Cards - Memory Express Inc.


Ya 670$. A bit better.  But backordered and notes. Can’t guarantee  prices on backorders, final sale, no exchanges…….  Wow


----------



## Outback Bronze (Jan 26, 2022)

Alright W1z i found a few games but gees it was pretty tough looking for poor performance on a 4C/8T CPU.

They really do seem to be still ok for gaming!

Anyways this was the best I could find without doing my own testing on my 12700K and installing a 101 games etc..

The systems was a 9900K with cores and HT turned off etc. Going to list them in no particular order.






























I can list some more games but really what was happening was that the averages were the same but the minimums were slightly lower than its more core counter part.

It was a mission for me to find many games that didn't run well on a 4C/8T CPU and with the IPC rating of the 12100 id say its a very capable CPU for gaming atm.

But as you can see from the graphs I have posted, you can clearly see that 4C/8T is only just starting to show its age.

All the games I have shown here are probably not what your looking for on your reviews so I've tried my best : )


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## r9 (Jan 26, 2022)

Now we just need a $50 mobo that allows 5.2GHz OC.


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## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> This is the kind of discussion I come here for.
> 
> H610 vs H510 is going to be interesting because H510 was a write-off in terms of performance/$ and everyone ignored it (even many OEMs and SIs)
> H610 may gain traction as it's lacking so many features that B660 has it may be significantly cheaper - and for a single GPU build the only real downside other than fewer overall ports and slots is the loss of PCIe 4.0 storage. I don't think that's a deal breaker as many SSDs are still only PCIe 3.0 and real-world performance implications of running a PCIe 4.0 SSD in a PCIe 3.0 slot aren't really noticeable outside of a synthetic benchmark.



Yeah I'd like to see some benchmarks comparing M.2 performance on something like a WD SN550 (which is PCI 3.0 x 4) between a H610M board (at 3.0 x 4) and a Z690, or something like that. 

You'd also need to check the actual board prices, because currently Newegg have the H610M HDV/M.2 at $5 more than the B660M HDV, which is more-or-less identical to the H610M HDV/M.2  in terms of power delivery etc. ports, headers, etc., but has the extra M.2 slot and a USB-C port, so there's there no reason to buy a H610M board. But in another place and time, it could be the H610M comes in $30 or $40 cheaper, in which case you might well not see any reason to pay for B660.


----------



## Selaya (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> This is the kind of discussion I come here for.
> 
> H610 vs H510 is going to be interesting because H510 was a write-off in terms of performance/$ and everyone ignored it (even many OEMs and SIs)
> H610 may gain traction as it's lacking so many features that B660 has it may be significantly cheaper - and for a single GPU build the only real downside other than fewer overall ports and slots is the loss of PCIe 4.0 storage. I don't think that's a deal breaker as many SSDs are still only PCIe 3.0 and real-world performance implications of running a PCIe 4.0 SSD in a PCIe 3.0 slot aren't really noticeable outside of a synthetic benchmark.


also ddr4-3200 is definitely competent while ddr4-2666's borderline inept, which is yet another reason why the h410/b460/h510s are all doa


----------



## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> Yeah I'd like to see some benchmarks comparing M.2 performance on something like a WD SN550 (which is PCI 3.0 x 4) between a H610M board (at 3.0 x 4) and a Z690, or something like that.


I mean, the difference is going to be like this:


Windows will take 7.8 seconds to boot instead of 7.6 seconds.
Opening Chrome will take 0.82 seconds instead of 0.79 seconds.
Loading a game level will take 12.4 seconds instead of 12.3 seconds.

The only instances where you'll see differences is when you copy several gigs of data from RAM to disk and back. Chances are you're not in the market for an ultra-budget platform if you're doing that regularly as the people who _need_ a PCIe 4.0 SSD can usually justify the premium. Additionally, the  cheapest PCIe 4.0 SSD on the market is still like a 25% more expensive than any of the obvious budget NVMe drive choices that you'd pair with a budget CPU and motherboard. The PCIe 3.0 SN570 performs very close to the PCIe 4.0 Atom50 but it's $30 cheaper. $30 is *a lot *in this segment.



Outback Bronze said:


> Alright W1z i found a few games but gees it was pretty tough looking for poor performance on a 4C/8T CPU.
> 
> They really do seem to be still ok for gaming!
> 
> ...


I think the consoles are the reason that 6 threads is the minimum requirement now. Both PS5 and XBSX have 8C/16T but only give 6C/12T for game use and reserve two cores for OS and background services.

In the case of the quad cores, it's better to have 6 real cores but 4 real cores and 2 more logical cores is "good enough" it would seem.


----------



## Assimilator (Jan 26, 2022)

IMO you should've kept this review to the stock 12100F, and done a separate piece on BCLK overclocking on all of the non-K ADL SKUs you've reviewed so far, because you're causing a lot of confusion. I already see so many users here who have completely ignored the requirement of the external clock generator, _which H610 boards almost certainly aren't going to have_.


----------



## Selaya (Jan 26, 2022)

you cant even overclock a 12600K on a H610, what on earth would make one believe you can OC anything at all w/ it?


----------



## Assimilator (Jan 26, 2022)

Selaya said:


> you cant even overclock a 12600K on a H610, what on earth would make one believe you can OC anything at all w/ it?


Ask the other users in this thread...


----------



## thelawnet (Jan 26, 2022)

Chrispy_ said:


> I mean, the difference is going to be like this:
> 
> 
> Windows will take 7.8 seconds to boot instead of 7.6 seconds.
> ...



Would it?

What I'm referring to is this:

"As of this writing, VERY few motherboards use the H670 client chipset, making the B660 Intel's mainstream desktop chipset for those with a "locked" 12th Gen Core processor ....
The H610 is the bare entry-level chipset. You lose out on memory overclocking, only get Gen3 PCIe connectivity across the board, and no CPU-attached NVMe."

from the review.

In fact memory overclocking doesn't seem to be a loss, and it seems *misleading * to say you get only Gen3 PCIe connectivity across the board.

You have in all cases a PCIE 5.0 or 4.0 x16 slot from the CPU, though the cheaper boards will run it at PCIE 4.0. 

You have a 4.0 x4 slot from the CPU for NVMes. This is disabled on the H610.

This leaves the H610 with 8 x PCIE 3.0 lanes, which are spent:

* NVME 3.0 x4, NVME 3.0 x 2, PCIE 3.0 x 1 as on the Asus Prime E/ A (7 lanes, and USB, SATA, GBE use other flex io lanes)
* NVME 3x4, PCIE 3 x1, PCIE 3x1, as on the Asrock HDV/M.2 (6 lanes, etc.)

etc.

So realistically the fullest use of the H610 chipset would be something like the Asus Prime E or A, but with a second x1 PCIE slot.

So the H610 *chipset* only supports 20 out of 48 HSIO lanes, and it disables lane 17-20 from the CPU, which should be used for your first M.2 device.

Now the question that I'm asking is the review notes that there is no CPU-attached NVME and implies this is a bad thing.

So instead of plugging your budget PCIE 3.0 x4 NVME into a slot connected to the CPU, which supports 4.0 x4, but runs at 3.0 x4, because that's the speed of the device, you instead plug in the NVME to a slot connected to the chipset, also a 3.0 x4, where it connects to the CPU via the DMI lanes, which are 4x DMI 4.0, which as I understand it is equivalent to 4 x PCIE 4.0, or 8 x PCIE 3.0.

I suppose it depends what exactly you were doing, e.g., copy A->B would not touch the CPU but 'load a game into memory' might.

On a B660 board, typically with two M.2 slots at 4.0 x4, this means one is CPU-attached and one is chipset-attached. So that is basically exactly the same issue - does it in fact make any performance difference whether you attach an M.2 device directly to the CPU or to the chipset. If not, it would seem like the review should read "NVME speed is limited to PCIE 3.0", not "no CPU-attached NVME"

(note: the review chart has  a few omissions IMO :

H610 is 1 DIMM per channel, otherwise 1 or 2
RAID should be noted: H610 - none, B660 - SATA, H670/Z690 - SATA/NVME
Max displays is 3 on H610, otherwise 4)


----------



## Chrispy_ (Jan 26, 2022)

Assimilator said:


> Ask the other users in this thread...


I think you're confusing all the discussion about the value proposition of this i3 in terms of additional platform cost with the BCLK overclocking discussion in the other thread.

At present there are no DDR4 B660 or H610 boards with external clockgen for BLCK overclocking. That means that to BCLK overclock a $105 i3 you need  - as the lowest-cost minimum requirements - a $250 ROG Strix G/F B660 board and a minimum of $170 of _unobtainable_ DDR5. $420 of hard-to-get platform cost is irrelevant to a $105 CPU that's likely to be paired with a ~$90 board and $60 of DDR4-3200.


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## Dyatlov A (Jan 26, 2022)

Very nice CPU, i will buy a few and test the best for myself. But why he is not writing if he overclocked with the DDR4 or DDR5 board?


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## W1zzard (Jan 26, 2022)

Dyatlov A said:


> But why he is not writing if he overclocked with the DDR4 or DDR5 board?


I overclocked using the DDR5 board, the DDR4 board has no external clock generator


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## seth1911 (Jan 27, 2022)

The best performace/€ CPU for Gaming is useless with no GPU.  

So long im using a A10 6800K


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## Selaya (Jan 27, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> Would it?
> 
> What I'm referring to is this:
> 
> ...


yeah but this is a product for the _every single fucking cent counts_ bracket of the stack and given that even on h610 you can do like, 3200-c16 these are all _fucking luxury features_. i'd stick in a SATA ssd over an nvme if it means knocking another $5 off the total build's price.
so pairing it w/ the most bottom-of-the-barrel h610 makes perfect sense for something like an 12100f.


----------



## tadoritz (Jan 27, 2022)

Power draw turned out to be similar to 12400@5.2GHz tested by der8auer and Hardwareluxx. Is it OK?

ReviewerCPUPower DrawHardwareluxx12400@5.2GHz131W on CPU in R23der8auer12400@5.2GHz138W on CPU in R20TechPowerUp12100F@5.2GHz174W Total System in R23
Voltage is about the same.

In comparison with 5600X, 3900X and 10900K:
Hardwareluxx: 12400@5.2GHz = 131W = 5600X+55W = 3900X-10W = 10900K-85W (on CPU)
TechPowerUp: 12100F@5.2GHz = 174W = 5600X+48W = 3900X-27W = 10900K-72W (Total System)


----------



## bug (Jan 27, 2022)

tadoritz said:


> Power draw turned out to be similar to 12400@5.2GHz tested by der8auer and Hardwareluxx. Is it OK?
> 
> ReviewerCPUPower DrawHardwareluxx12400@5.2GHz131W on CPU in R23der8auer12400@5.2GHz138W on CPU in R20TechPowerUp12100F@5.2GHz174W Total System in R23
> Voltage is about the same.
> ...


It's ok, given how CPUs work these days. But it's not optimal.
The 12400F has two more physical cores, it should draw more power. If it doesn't, it means its cores run slower than those of the 12100F (probably thermal throttling).


----------



## tadoritz (Jan 27, 2022)

bug said:


> It's ok, given how CPUs work these days. But it's not optimal.
> The 12400F has two more physical cores, it should draw more power. If it doesn't, it means its cores run slower than those of the 12100F (probably thermal throttling).


Wouldn't it be unprofessional to throttle CPU so hard, and are there any signes of throttling? The scaling of Cinebench results compared to stock is also about the same in all three reviews.


----------



## bug (Jan 27, 2022)

tadoritz said:


> Wouldn't it be unprofessional to throttle CPU so hard, and are there any signes of throttling? The scaling of Cinebench results compared to stock is also about the same in all three reviews.


It's not unprofessional, it's how CPUs work: when they get too hot, they dial it back.
As for Cinebench scaling, I wouldn't know, I have run that thing.


----------



## thelawnet (Jan 27, 2022)

Selaya said:


> yeah but this is a product for the _every single fucking cent counts_ bracket of the stack and given that even on h610 you can do like, 3200-c16 these are all _fucking luxury features_. i'd stick in a SATA ssd over an nvme if it means knocking another $5 off the total build's price.
> so pairing it w/ the most bottom-of-the-barrel h610 makes perfect sense for something like an 12100f.


Ok, but that wasn't the point I was discussing. 

Specifically it was suggested in the review that you should pair this thing with a B660, not a H610, on the basis that having your SSD, likely SATA or at best PCIE 3.0 x4,  connected to the PCH, rather than to the CPU, is a significant issue.

I presume it's not and therefore H610 is absolutely _fine_, in that it's not really reasonable to expect deluxe features for every possible future peripheral when you bought the poverty CPU, so if you start off with say an M.2, a 12100f, and then in the future need more space, well go buy a Crucial MX500 SATA SSD.

I mean, I'm not really sure what the +- is on buying a 12100 vs a 12100f, as opposed to an H610 vs a B660. Like if you could pick one... (Obviously contingent on also having a GPU). One *big *advantage of the 12100, is that if you're building a PC bit by bit, then you can get started with a 12100 and a H610 and then add a more suitable GPU later on. I mean sure, the  Intel HD 730 IGP( or whatever it's called), is that while it will suck for Cyberpunk 2077, but, like it's a whole lot better than no PC, and you can play older games, indie games, etc., no problems, and then when you have more cash you can add a 6500 XT or something.


----------



## Selaya (Jan 27, 2022)

thelawnet said:


> [ ... ] on the basis that having your SSD, likely SATA or at best PCIE 3.0 x4,  connected to the PCH, rather than to the CPU, is a significant issue.
> [ ... ]


yeah. no.
until we get directstorage (coming in 2031) it's literally a nonissue. a luxury problem of a luxury problem. you're far better off spending your money on your gpu.

my priority for such a build would be like:
decent psu > gpu > gpu qol > cpu > board qol
as long as you've got an ssd (pref not a qvo, but even that'll do in a pinch) at all you're set basically; the ssd's performance impact's measured in like the 0.x%s


----------



## tadoritz (Jan 27, 2022)

bug said:


> It's not unprofessional


It will be, if you test CPU with underperforming cooler or mobo and keep quiet about it. 

Hardwareluxx assure that they didn't reach throttling temp.


> We cooled the Core i5-12400 during base clock overclocking using a Noctua NH-U12A. However, this still managed to keep the processor below the threshold of thermal throttling. With 97 °C under constant load, but only very slightly. - Google Translate


----------



## Assimilator (Jan 27, 2022)

Selaya said:


> yeah. no.
> until we get directstorage (coming in 2031) it's literally a nonissue. a luxury problem of a luxury problem. you're far better off spending your money on your gpu.
> 
> my priority for such a build would be like:
> ...


A QVO will be a massive and obvious improvement over a HDD. Hell, even a non-name-brand using rejected NAND chips will be a massive and obvious improvement!



tadoritz said:


> It will be, if you test CPU with underperforming cooler or mobo and keep quiet about it.
> 
> Hardwareluxx assure that they didn't reach throttling temp.


Did you read the "Test Setup" page of the review?
Did you read the "Temperatures" page of the review?


----------



## tadoritz (Jan 27, 2022)

Assimilator said:


> Did you read the "Test Setup" page of the review?
> Did you read the "Temperatures" page of the review?


We were talking about 12400s. Bug suggested that Hardwareluxx's and der8auer's 12400s were throttled, not this 12100.


bug said:


> The 12400F has two more physical cores, it should draw more power. If it doesn't, it means its cores run slower than those of the 12100F (probably thermal throttling).


----------



## lexluthermiester (Jan 29, 2022)

Lionheart said:


> Well folks, we have the perfect budget king CPU, never thought I'd say congrats to Intel, great review Wizz.
> 
> View attachment 233922


I have to agree. This is damn good for a 4c/8t i3.


----------



## Taraquin (Jan 29, 2022)

This is disapointing! SA-voltage is stuck at 0.9-0.96V if you run at locked CPU. This will allow for 3400-3733 OC in gear 1, in many cases you can`t even get 3600 stable. Shame on you Intel. 

*From MSI internal test, so far the result is as below,*
*All result is done by MP CPU, QS CPU might have inconsistent result as MP CPU*


Non-K + B chipset = cannot increase VCCSA (it sits around 0.91x to 0.92xV depending on IMC quality)
Non-K + Z chipset = cannot increase VCCSA (it sits around 0.91x to 0.92xV depending on IMC quality)
K + B chipset = can increase VCCSA (This scenario was not confirmed by Intel, but so far it worked)
K + Z chipset = can increase VCCSA
MSI's Latest Z690 & B660 Motherboard BIOS Improves Intel Alder Lake Non-K Memory Compatibility (wccftech.com)


----------



## Lionheart (Jan 29, 2022)

lexluthermiester said:


> I have to agree. This is damn good for a 4c/8t i3.


Yeah for sure, problem is what GPU could you pair it with without ripping yourself off? Seems like the used market is the only way to go cause the 6500XT is garbage, GTX 3050 are a tad better but still OP


----------



## lexluthermiester (Jan 29, 2022)

Lionheart said:


> Yeah for sure, problem is what GPU could you pair it with without ripping yourself off?


I would say up to the 3060ti before any real CPU bottlenecking starts to show.



Assimilator said:


> A QVO will be a massive and obvious improvement over a HDD. Hell, even a non-name-brand using rejected NAND chips will be a massive and obvious improvement!


QLC durability is garbage compared to ANY HDD. Speed increases be damned.


----------



## tadoritz (Feb 1, 2022)

Update.

ReviewerCPUPower DrawHardwareluxx12400@5.2GHz131W on CPU in R23der8auer12400@5.2GHz138W on CPU in R20TechPowerUp12100F@5.2GHz174W Total System in R23New data...​...​...​Hardwareluxx12100F@5.2GHz92W on CPU in R23Lawrence Timme12100F@5.2GHz96W on CPU in R15JAWARA media12100F@4.6GHz73W on CPU in R23

Hardwareluxx 12100F - 8935 pts in R23 (7508 in stock per reviewer)
JAWARA media 12100F - 9499 pts in R23 (8490 in stock per reviewer)
[TechPowerUp 12100F - 10748 pts in R23 (8560 in stock per reviewer)]

Lawrence Timme 12100F - 1534 pts in R15 (1346 with BCLK=110 MHz per reviewer)
Hardwareluxx 12100F - 1344 pts in R15 (1050 in stock per reviewer)

JAWARA media 12100F - 3641 pts in R20 (3249 in stock per reviewer)
Hardwareluxx 12100F - 3623 pts in R20 (2893 in stock per reviewer)


----------



## Rockfella.killswitch (Feb 2, 2022)

I still don't see the need to upgrade lol.


----------



## Taraquin (Feb 2, 2022)

tadoritz said:


> Update.
> 
> ReviewerCPUPower DrawHardwareluxx12400@5.2GHz131W on CPU in R23der8auer12400@5.2GHz138W on CPU in R20TechPowerUp12100F@5.2GHz174W Total System in R23New data...​...​...​Hardwareluxx12100F@5.2GHz92W on CPU in R23Lawrence Timme12100F@5.2GHz96W on CPU in R15JAWARA media12100F@4.6GHz73W on CPU in R23
> 
> ...


Different voltages and powerlimits accounts for much of the difference we see I bet. Stock 12400 on hardwareluxx scores 11100 on R23 using 72W. On my setup I get 11700 stock (80W short, 65W long, last 10sec of test switches to long), but using Asus pwr unlock setting I get 12400 at 75W. Using Asus settings voltage stays at 1000mv avg in CB23, using stock it stays at 1050mv avg when at 80W short and 960mv at long.


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## Cutechri (Feb 3, 2022)

Budget king right here. AMD where's your budget products now?


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## W1zzard (Feb 3, 2022)

Cutechri said:


> Budget king right here. AMD where's your budget products now?


"Client processor average selling price (ASP) increased year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter due to a richer mix of Ryzen processor sales."








						AMD Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results
					

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today announced revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 of $4.8 billion, operating income of $1.2 billion, net income of $974 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.80. On a non-GAAP basis, operating income was $1.3 billion, net income was $1.1 billion and diluted earnings...




					www.techpowerup.com
				




This is driving AMD's stock price


----------



## Cutechri (Feb 3, 2022)

Yeah I bet. Wouldn't hurt to have some actual reasonably priced budget processors. Most people are looking at budget products.


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## TheinsanegamerN (Feb 8, 2022)

Cutechri said:


> Yeah I bet. Wouldn't hurt to have some actual reasonably priced budget processors. Most people are looking at budget products.


People made this same argument with Polaris, but the realty is the high end market is growing and spends a LOT. AMD is selling almost everything they can make and their cheapest Zen 3 part is $300, only recently have prices decreased.


----------



## Cutechri (Feb 8, 2022)

TheinsanegamerN said:


> People made this same argument with Polaris, but the realty is the high end market is growing and spends a LOT. AMD is selling almost everything they can make and their cheapest Zen 3 part is $300, only recently have prices decreased.


Of course they're selling almost everything they can make. Have you seen the current market? Companies are doing wonderfully. We aren't.

In a normal market, nobody with a brain would be buying a 6 core for $300. Intel's $160 i5-12400F not only performs better but is also much more appealing.


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## tadoritz (Feb 14, 2022)

So... Update 2.

ReviewerCPUPower DrawHardwareluxx12400@5.2GHz131W on CPU in R23der8auer12400@5.2GHz138W on CPU in R20TechPowerUp12100F@5.2GHz174W Total System in R23New data...​...​...​Hardwareluxx12100F@5.2GHz92W on CPU in R23Lawrence Timme12100F@5.2GHz96W on CPU in R15JAWARA media12100F@4.6GHz73W on CPU in R23New data...​...​...​TechPowerUp12300@5.0GHz187W Total System in R23

Hardwareluxx 12100F - 8935 pts in R23 (7508 in stock per reviewer)
JAWARA media 12100F - 9499 pts in R23 (8490 in stock per reviewer)
TechPowerUp 12100F - 10748 pts in R23 (8560 in stock per reviewer)
TechPowerUp 12300 - 10358 pts in R23 (8623 in stock per reviewer)

Lawrence Timme 12100F - 1534 pts in R15 (1346 with BCLK=110 MHz per reviewer)
Hardwareluxx 12100F - 1344 pts in R15 (1050 in stock per reviewer)

JAWARA media 12100F - 3641 pts in R20 (3249 in stock per reviewer)
Hardwareluxx 12100F - 3623 pts in R20 (2893 in stock per reviewer)


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## Tom Sunday (Feb 14, 2022)

Lionheart said:


> Well folks, we have the perfect budget king CPU, never thought I'd say congrats to Intel, great review Wizz.
> 
> View attachment 233922





Lionheart said:


> Well folks, we have the perfect budget king CPU, never thought I'd say congrats to Intel, great review Wizz.
> 
> View attachment 233922


I have generally always been drawn to AMD products but being on the lower-end of the food chain money remained super tight! My present 2008 Dell has been dying a slow death and the Intel i3 12100 now looks extremely impressive against all of the AMD's lower-end chips. I am not a gamer, so a discrete GPU will not be required nor can readily be afforded at his time. Amazing: The $300 comparable Ryzen 3 3300X, finds the i3 12100 beating it by almost 19% and being faster than the six-core Ryzen 5 3600 and 3600X, respectively. To my despair I find that AMD's chips now can't compete in the sub-$300/$250 market and which is more my own dictated reality! No doubt Alder Lake has delivered a decisive blow to AMD's entire Ryzen 5000 family. So it looks that my money needs to be with Intel as the Core i3-12100 is the absolute winner and now the reigning champion for the man on the street and the unfortunate left behind WFH crowd!


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