Intel Core i3-12100F: No. 1 for nimble PCs at a bargain

Extra tests, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

Conclusion

We recently enjoyed the pleasing results of the Core i3-10105F here, and that processor already has a successor – the 12100F. It presents an option in the Alder Lake family for users on a budget. But that doesn’t mean it will limit you in performance. Plus, in target environments (especially simpler gaming PC builds), the latest Core i3 is nicely power-efficient without breaking your bank account.

Conclusion

The Core i3-12100F has a minimum of negatives and none of them any serious. Average gaming performance across all relevant resolutions (1080p, 1440p and 2160p) is on par with the Core i5-11400F, but at 26-28 % lower power draw. The coefficient of gaming performance per watt is thus significantly better than that of the grade higher Rocket Lake. However, the Core i3 Alder Lake does not become the efficiency champion with this triumph, that is still the Ci3-10105F processor. The latter is 34-43 % more power efficient, although it can be up to 19 % slower gaming-wise. This is due to the fact that for the “untuned” standards of Golden Cove, the Ci3-12100F pushes quite high clock speeds (4.1 GHz), almost to the level of Skylake (10105F).

We’ll comment on gaming performance in the following part with respect to Full HD resolution, with which the vast majority of builds with such less expensive processors will be working. Lower-than-expected is the performance in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (between the Ryzen 5 3600 and 5600X). In CS:GO, the Core i3-12100F is only good enough for the mid-range AMD Ryzen 3000 (Zen 2), Vermeer (Ryzen 5 5600X) is already in the lead. A relatively large variance in performance due only to the effect of different CPUs is in Cyberpunk 2077, where the Ci3-12100F took only the second-to-last place (above the Ci3-10105F). In DOOM Eternal, however, the margin from the outdated Core i3 is already higher, and the 12100F outperforms even the Core i5-10400F. A similar scenario is repeated in F1 2020 or Microsoft Flight Simulator.

In Metro Exodus or Shadow of the Tomb Raider, even the Core i5-11400F is looking at the current Core i3 from underneath. There is also a significant improvement over the Comet Lake generation in Total War Saga: Troy, where the 12100F can have up to a 45 % advantage over the 10105F. Of course, it also depends on how powerful your graphics card is, what graphics settings you use, and so on. Either way, the Core i3 Alder Lake will have a significant edge in this game (compared to the Core i3 Comet Lake). In FHD (1080p) resolution, the Ci3-12100F dethroned the cheaper Ci3-10105F in price/performance ratio. Closely, but still. The higher price of the Core i3-12100F we are counting with (104 EUR) or, on the contrary, the sale discount of the Core i3-10105F can turn this order in favor of Comet Lake.

The new Core i3 is also noticeably faster in an office environment. While the 10105F always finished last or, at best, second to last in PCMark’s practical tests (vďaka vyššiemu all-core boostu oproti 10400F), , the 12100F even catches or overtakes the Ryzen 5 5600X. This is with shorter startup times or similarly fast work in spreadsheet editors. The Core i3-12100F also benefits from the high IPC combined with high frequencies on the web, where it also outperforms significantly more expensive processors in subtasks.

The Ci3-12100F is naturally lacking in raw multi-threaded performance. It’s therefore not suitable for 3D rendering, encoding or video editing. The same is true formass photo editing, even though, for occasional filter application, the performance is enough, still, these are the weak points of the less expensive Core i3 Alder Lake. So far, the most significant drop in fps we’ve seen is when recording an x264 video in addition to playing the game. So it is better to use a graphics encoder for streaming. The performance of archive (de)compression and (de)encryption of the Core i3-12100F is between that of the Core i3-10105(F) and Core i5-10400(F). Numerical calculations and simulations can safely be skipped, this class has no ambitions for such purposes. What makes the Core i3-12100F an attractive processor are its other aspects. Namely best price/performance ratio, excellent single-thread performance, low power draw, high efficiency or low temperatures adorn this piece of hardware.

Based on the temperatures, it’s clear that even the smaller Alder Lake chips are soldered to the IHS. The Ci3-12100F heats up less compared to the Ci3-10105F while drawing significantly more power, The silicon case area of both processors is the same. Thus, the results clearly indicate that the Core i3 Alder Lake must have a TIM with significantly higher thermal conductivity. Fine, low enough, is, unlike the Core i5-12400 (stepping C0, S-Spec SRL4V), even the idle power draw.

TL;DR: In the segment of inexpensive processors around one hundred euros, a clear choice. Only the older Core i3-10105F could beat it, but only with the help of a significantly cheaper board. Otherwise, the Core i3-12100F is both more powerful and more efficient. AMD is only quietly watching this fight, it doesn’t have a more direct competitor on offer yet.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

Games for testing are from Jama levova

Special thanks to Blackmagic Design (for a DaVinci Resolve Studio license), Topaz Labs (for licenses for DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI) and Zoner (for Photo Studio X license)


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