Core i5-12400F vs Core i5-11600K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-12400F and the Core i5-11600K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-12400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Core i5-11600K has 6 cores and 12 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 4.4 GHz and 4.9 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-12400F uses the LGA1700 socket and the Core i5-11600K uses LGA1200, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 65 W for the first and 125 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Core i5-12400F cost $167 and the Core i5-11600K $262, which gives 32.9 and 20.6 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core i5-12400F can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 7800 XT before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-11600K reaches the Radeon RX 7800 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-12400F if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-11600K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.