Intel Core i5-12500 12th Gen Alder Lake Processor

Intel 12th Gen Core i5-12500 Alder Lake Processor

The latest Intel Core i5-12500 processor comes with 6 cores and 12 threads. It has a base frequency of 3.00 GHz and a maximum boost frequency of up to 4.60 GHz. The Intel i5-12500 Alder Lake Processor comes with an 18 MB Intel Smart Cache and 7.5 MB of total L2 Cache. TDP values are maintained at 65 W. The Intel Core i5-12500 is supported with LGA1700 Sockets and the size of the CPU is 45.0 mm x 37.5 mm.

Core Benefits of the Processor

The Intel Core i5-12500 Alder Lake CPU supports both DDR5 and DDR4 memory controllers. High-end motherboards will retain DDR5 while the more mainstream offerings will open up DDR4 support too. It supports up to DDR5 4800 MT/s and up to DDR4 3200 MT/s. The max number of memory channels is 2 and they support 128 GB of maximum memory size in total. It features maximum bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s. The Processor also comes with Intel UHD Graphics 770 graphics that has a base frequency of 300 MHz and 1.45 GHz of maximum dynamic frequency. It supports eDP 1.4b, DP 1.4a, HDMI 2.1 graphics output options.

Intel Core i5-12500 Review

Intel’s segmentation is worthy of analysis insofar as any 12th Gen chip from the Core i5-12600K and above has a combination of Performance and Efficient cores. The exact mix of cores, frequency, and power determines the model designation. Though there are 18 new Core processors for 2022 we are focussing on the 11 comprising the 65W range and above; the other seven are more likely to be used exclusively by OEMs. Here is where it starts to become interesting. Intel uses Core i5 as the guinea pig for shifting cores and threads around within a single family. The four new Core i5s do away with the four Efficient cores on the higher-performing duo and reduce caches accordingly.

Our review chip, Core i5-12400, also clocks in a fair bit lower than, say, Core i5-12600K. Once you factor in the lower power budget it will run more slowly on all-core frequencies, as well. We can argue that it ought to be called a Core i3 for these reasons alone, but Intel has even more cuts in store for that family.

Performance

The sample chip hums along at an all-core 4.0GHz during demanding workloads. Remember this speed is allocated to Performance ‘Golden Cove’ core alone, so there is no helping hand from Efficient cores. This actually makes the comparison against the Ryzen 5 5600X more revealing as we’re comparing on an equal core-and-thread footing.

However you cut it, Intel’s latest Performance architecture is a tad faster than AMD’s Zen 3 in the Blender rendering test that has historically been AMD’s domain. Single-thread performance is important for day-to-day tasks, indicating swift dispatching of common applications. Core i5-12400 does push on to 4.4GHz, helping it maintain a solid advantage over Ryzen 5 5600X. Anything Ryzen 5 5600X can do, the Core i5-12400 appears to do that little bit better. The next real step up is to an 8C16T part, which Intel does not have in the 12th Gen Core arsenal.

This processor has 03 years warranty (no warranty for fan or cooler).