Intel's entry-level Core i3-12300 & Core i3-12100 Alder Lake Desktop CPUs might offer the best value to budget gamers as shown in leaked benchmarks.

Intel Alder Lake Quad Cores, Core i3-12300 & Core i3-12100, Show Strong Entry-Level Performance, Run Cool & Consumer Under 65 Watts of Power

While we have already seen the benchmarks of Intel's Core i3-12100 leak out earlier, these new metrics also let us compare both variants against AMD's entry-level offerings which have so far been missing the Ryzen 3 lineup but that's expected to launch under the Renoir-X branding by 2022.

Coming to the specifications for the Intel Core i3-12100 Desktop CPU, you are getting 4 cores with 8 threads. All cores are based on the Golden Cove architecture and there's no hybrid architecture on this chip as will be the case with every chip below the Core i5-12600K. The CPU has a boost clock of up to 4.3 GHz (1-core) and 4.1 GHz (All-Core). The base TDP is rated at 60 Watts while the maximum turbo power (MTP) is rated at just 77W.

Similarly, the higher-end Core i3-12300 CPU retains the same core configuration but runs at slightly higher clock speeds of up to 4.4 GHz (1-Core) and 4.2 GHz (All-Core). The CPU also packs a 12 MB L3 cache. As for pricing, both chips are expected to hit retail around 1000 RMB or under $150 US. This will make them a very nice option for budget and entry-tier builders. With that said, let's look at the performance of these chips.

Intel Core i3-12100 & Core i3-12300 CPU-z (Image Credits: Enthusiast Citizen via Bilibili):

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Intel Core i3-12100 & Core i3-12300 Cinebench (Image Credits: Enthusiast Citizen via Bilibili):

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Starting with the Intel Core i3-12300, the CPU scores 702.5 points in single-core and 3842.4 points in the multi-thread score within CPU-z. In Cinebench R20, the chip scores 665 points in single-core and 3318 points in multi-thread benchmark. In the AIDA64 FPU stress test, the Core i3-12300 runs at a cool 60C while consuming 62 Watts of power.

Moving over to the Core i3-12100, the CPU scores 687.5 points in single-core and 3407.9 points in the multi-thread benchmark in CPU-z. For Cinebench R20, the chip scores 649 points in single-core and 3248 points in multi-thread tests. That's almost 90-95% performance of the higher-end chip at a lower cost around $100 US.

Intel Core i3 Alder Lake CPU-z Benchmark (Single-Core)

Single-Core Score

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Core i9-12900K 827

Core i7-12700K 800

Core i3-12300 702

Core i3-12100 687

Core i9-11900K 682

Core i5-12400 681

Ryzen 9 5900X 648

Ryzen 9 5950X 647

Core i7-11700K 645

Ryzen 7 5800X 640

Core i5-11600K 633

Ryzen 5 5600X 624

Intel Core i3 Alder Lake CPU-z Benchmark (Multi-Core)

Multi-Core Score

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Ryzen 9 5950X 11.9k

Core i9-12900K 11.5k

Ryzen 9 5900X 9.5k

Core i7-12700K 9.4k

Core i9-11900K 6.6k

Ryzen 7 5800X 6.6k

Core i7-11700K 6.3k

Core i5-12400 5k

Ryzen 5 5600X 4.8k

Core i5-11600K 4.7k

Core i3-12300 3.5k

Core i3-12100 3.4k

Intel Core i3 Alder Lake Cinebench Benchmark

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Multi-Thread

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Core i9-12900K 768

10.5k

Ryzen 9 5950X 650

10.5k

Ryzen 9 3950X 530

9.1k

Ryzen 9 5900X 640

9k

Core i9-10980XE 496

9k

Ryzen 9 3900X 522

7.1k

Core i9-10900K 535

6.4k

Core i9-10850K 534

6.4k

Core i9-11900K 642

6.4k

Ryzen 7 5800X 633

6.4k

Core i5-12400 659

4.8k

Ryzen 5 5600X 610

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Core i3-12300 665

3.3k

Core i3-12100 649

3.2k

Intel Core i3-12100 & Core i3-12300 Temps/Power (Image Credits: Enthusiast Citizen via Bilibili):

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What's impressive is that the performance for both chips almost matches the Zen 2 powered Ryzen 5 3600 in multi-threaded while the single-core performance destroys AMD's entire Zen 3 lineup. In comparison to the Core i3-10100F, the Core i3-12100F is about 42% faster on average in both single and multi-threaded performance which is one huge gen over gen upgrade. Sure you will need the brand new 600-series platform and it will be a wise decision to go for DDR4 motherboards with the entry-level lineup considering the cost/availability of DDR5 modules. Overall, Intel looks like they'll have another solid launch in the entry-level segment after a solid return in the mainstream & high-end segments with Alder Lake CPUs.

Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake Desktop CPU Specs