Core i5-12400F vs Core i7-12700H

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-12400F and the Core i7-12700H 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 i7-12700H has 14 cores and 20 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-12700H help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.4 GHz and 4.7 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-12400F uses the LGA1700 socket and the Core i7-12700H uses BGA, 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 45 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

We do not have launch prices for both chips, so we cannot compare value.

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 i7-12700H 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. Choose the Core i7-12700H if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.