Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F: Which Is the Better CPU?

The Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5 12400F are two of the most popular 6-core CPUs, but which is the best? That’s what we plan to find today.

Picture of Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F — Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F (Image via AMD | Intel)

The Ryzen 5 7600 is AMD’s most popular 6-core CPU in the AM5 platform. On the other hand, the Core i5 12400F is Intel’s most popular 6-core processor. The question is which 6-core processor is the best, and which delivers the most value? Well, that’s exactly what we plan to find out today. Read on to learn more.

Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.

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Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F: Detailed Comparison

The Ryzen 5 7600 is based on the Zen 4 architecture, while the Intel Core i5 12400F is designed on the Alder Lake architecture. Today, we will witness the battle of the 6-core processors. Let’s begin with their specs first to get a better idea of what they are capable of.

Specs Comparison

Picture of Ryzen 5 7600 — Ryzen 5 7600 (Image via AMD)

Here are the specs of the Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5 12400F:

Specifications	AMD Ryzen 5 7600	Intel Core i5 12400F
Architecture	Zen 4	Alder Lake
Core/Thread count	6/12	6/12
Max clock speed	5.1 GHz	4.4 GHz
L3 cache	32 MB	18 MB
RAM support	DDR5-5200	DDR4-3200 DDR5-4800
PCIe Gen support	Gen 5	Gen 5
Platform Socket	AM5	LGA 1700
Thermal design power (TDP)	65W Typical \| 88W Max	65W Typical \| 117W Max
Manufacturing nodes	5nm, 6nm	10nm

As per the specs table, both the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5 12400F have the same number of cores. However, the former has higher clock speeds and more cache, which are crucial in games.

Synthetic Performance Comparison

Here’s how the Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5 12400F perform in popular synthetic benchmarks:

Benchmarks	AMD Ryzen 5 7600	Intel Core i5 12400F
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)	1858	1704
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)	14344	12047
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)	2797	2300
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)	12486	9477
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)	3909	3485
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)	27028	19488

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is around 14% faster than the Intel Core i5 12400F in single-core benchmarks. However, in multi-core benchmarks, the former delivers around 31% more performance than the latter. It will be interesting to see if the Ryzen CPU maintains the same lead in gaming as well.

Game Performance Comparison

Here’s how the Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5 12400F handle some of the popular games on the market:

Games	AMD Ryzen 5 7600	Intel Core i5 12400F
A Plague Tale Requiem	109 FPS	96 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	121 FPS	100 FPS
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey	121 FPS	103 FPS
Dying Light 2	205 FPS	200 FPS
Far Cry 6	172 FPS	138 FPS
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered	102 FPS	84 FPS
Starfield	110 FPS	91 FPS
The Witcher 3	231 FPS	204 FPS
Hitman 3	148 FPS	146 FPS
Doom Eternal	274 FPS	213 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	181 FPS	133 FPS
God of War 2018	137 FPS	133 FPS

Note: The two CPUs were tested at 1080p resolution with the Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU to eliminate any GPU bottleneck. All FPS numbers were sourced from the Odin Hardware channel on YouTube.

On average, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 has achieved around 16.4% more FPS than the Intel Core i5 12400F. Therefore, the Ryzen CPU is better in gaming. It has consistently delivered more frame rates in every game that was tested.

Price Comparison

Picture of Intel Core i5 12400F — Intel Core i5 12400F (Image via Intel)

The Ryzen 5 7600 is currently selling for around $184.99 on Newegg. On the other hand, the Intel Core i5 12400F sells for $116 on Newegg. Therefore, the Ryzen processor is almost 60% more expensive, which is a significant price premium over the Intel CPU.

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Final Verdict on Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F

The Ryzen 5 7600 is around 14 to 31% faster in productivity and around 16.4% faster in gaming compared to the Intel Core i5 12400F. Therefore, the Ryzen CPU is the better CPU, but it is also almost 60% more expensive, which negates its value. Due to this, we recommend that users buy the Intel Core i5 12400F instead, as it delivers a higher price-to-performance ratio.

We cannot recommend the Ryzen processor in this comparison since the performance uplift it delivers is not worth the price premium it is selling for. All the funds saved from buying the Intel CPU can be utilized towards other components, such as motherboards and high-speed DDR5 RAM.

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Ryzen 5 7600 vs Intel Core i5 12400F: Which Is the Better CPU?