Intel® Core™ i3-12100 Desktop Processor 12M Cache, up to 4.30 GHz

Product Information

The Core i3-12100 is impressive in threaded productivity workloads for its price point, easily beating the price-comparable Ryzen 3 3300X in nearly every benchmark and establishing a commanding 30% lead over the Core i3-10100. Of course, AMD's more expensive six-core chips provide more performance in threaded work, but they should given their higher price tags. The Alder Lake K-SKU CPUs have been tested on the MSI Z690 Tomahawk Wi-Fi DDR4 using the same memory and all boards were updated to the latest BIOS revision. We've also updated our Ryzen data, using the MSI X570S Tomahawk Wi-Fi. Here's a look a the 10 game average data and overall we think it's fair to say Intel's latest quad-core made out very well in many of today's games, especially given we were often using slightly dialed down quality settings at 1080p with a Radeon RX 6900 XT. Max Turbo Frequency refers to the maximum single-core processor frequency that can be achieved with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology. See www.intel.com/technology/turboboost/ for more information and applicability of this technology. The Riftbreaker is another CPU intensive title, though like most games, single core performance is most important. As a result, the 12100F performs very well allowing for 126 fps on average and that meant it was comparable to the 10600K, 5600X, and 11600K.

What this means is, for most gamers who will almost always be more GPU limited, the 12100F is going to fair even better. Moving on, we have Watch Dogs: Legion and although 97 fps on average is one of the weaker results from the batch of CPUs tested, the 12100F was 8% faster than the R5 3600 and 20% faster than the 10100F. Moreover, it was ~8% slower than the Ryzen 7 3800X and 10% slower than the Core i5-10600K, both of which are very capable gaming processors. Intel 12th-Gen Alder Lake Core i3-12100 and Core i3-12100F Pricing and Specifications Row 0 - Cell 0

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But is also means when more CPU limited in todays games, the 12100F is often comparable to parts such as the Ryzen 7 3700X and Core i5-10600K, which is remarkable. Starting with Cinebench R23 multi-core, we find that while not the most impressive CPU we've tested as of late, the 12100F is still mighty impressive for what it is, and perhaps more importantly, what it costs.

The 12100F was also very capable when testing with Rainbow Six Siege, averaging ~400 fps with 1% lows over 300 fps. This placed it on par with the Ryzen 5 3600 and ahead of both the 11600K and 10600K. When compared to the 10100F, we're seeing a 24% increase in 1% low performance. The decompression performance is a lot less impressive as the 12100F is barely any faster than the 10100F and is now 42% slower than the Ryzen 5 3600. Processors that support 64-bit computing on Intel® architecture require an Intel 64 architecture-enabled BIOS. When it comes to power consumption, the 12100F is extremely efficient, we're looking at roughly the same total system usage as the 10100F for around 30% greater performance. Incredible performance for a CPU that's only consuming 50-60 watts.The 12100F is also handy for those needing to get some Photoshop work done as the performance is comparable to that of the 11600K, 3700X and 10700K, some pretty high-end CPUs there in comparison. It was also 37% faster than the 10100F, an impressive jump over the previous-gen Core i3 part. There's another big difference between the Core i3-12100F compared to the Core i5/7/9 K-models. The newer chips are based on a physically different silicon, dubbed "H0." This die is smaller and physically only features six "Golden Cove" P-cores, zero "Gracemont" E-core clusters, and a shared L3 cache that's only 18 MB. The higher-end CPUs are carved out of the larger "C0" die, the same one the flagship i9-12900K is based on.

Next we have Hitman 3, and here the 12100F was good for 154 fps on average which is comparable to numerous current and previous generation mid range processors such as the 3700X, 10600K, 11600K, and even the 12400. A strong result and a massive 36% uplift over the old 10100F. In Adobe After Effects the 12100F appears surprisingly capable, roughly matching the performance of the Ryzen 5 5600X in the Puget Systems Benchmark. I have no doubt that serious users making money from work with After Effects won't opt for the Core i3-12100F, but for those starting out this budget CPU doesn't seem like a bad option, despite being a lowly quad-core. Age of Empires IV relies heavily on single core performance, so the Core i3-12100F does very well allowing for 190 fps on average, which is the same level of performance you'll receive from the i5-12400. It's also a 27% increase from the 10100F and a 20% boost over the Ryzen 5 3600. Arguably the most CPU demanding game in our list is Cyberpunk 2077 and the Core i3-12100F was feeling the pressure a little, though overall performance was excellent, basically matching the R5 3600 and R7 3700X. When looking at 1% lows, it was 45% faster than the 10100F, and 33% faster when comparing the average FPS.Intel classifications are for general, educational and planning purposes only and consist of Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN) and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers. Any use made of Intel classifications are without recourse to Intel and shall not be construed as a representation or warranty regarding the proper ECCN or HTS. Your company as an importer and/or exporter is responsible for determining the correct classification of your transaction. The IPC of Alder Lake is so strong that just 4 P-cores can rival the multi-core performance of a 10th generation 6-core/12-thread processor like the 10600K, and even AMD's Zen 2 based Ryzen 5 3600.