Question Hello! Should i choose the 11400f or I3-12100F. Im planning to build my pc and was wondering which one for gaming and coding/cybersecurity.

Sep 4, 2022
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Im planning to build my pc and was wondering which one for gaming and coding/cybersecurity. I could list down the parts if u want. Thank you!
 
The 12100 has about a 16% higher single thread score in a common benchmark. It has 4 cores and 8 threads.

The 11400 has about a 19% higher multi-thread score on the same benchmark. It has 6 cores and 12 threads.

Single thread scores are often indicative of gaming performance, but I don't know what games you play nor do I know the requirements of your coding/cybersecurity work. Would that software benefit from more cores?

Quite possible you wouldn't notice a major difference.
 
Im planning to build my pc and was wondering which one for gaming and coding/cybersecurity. I could list down the parts if u want. Thank you!
It would really depend on the game, for coding and compiling they probably aren't going to feel that different. I would normally be biased towards the 6 core for multitasking purposes. However the 12100F is much easier to cool thanks to being only 89W vs the 11400F 154W. Can I ask what sort of games you intend on playing? Also what sort of development tools will you be using?
 
Games will rarely make effective use of more than 6-8 processing threads.
Multiplayer may be an exception.
The stronger single thread performance of the i3-12100F is likely to game better.

Regardless, I suggest that the extra $25 or so you pay for the non F version with integrated graphics is a wise choice.
It keeps you going in the event of a graphics card issue.
 
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Games will rarely make effective use of more than 6-8 processing threads.
Multiplayer may be an exception.
There's quite a few modern triple A's that can make good use of 6 cores/12 threads now. Ghost Recon Wildlands/Breakpoint, RDR2. Assassins Creed Odyssey/Valhalla for example.

As you say multiplayer games can lean more heavily on the CPU, Battlefield 5, 2042 and Cod Warzone being good examples.

Cyberpunk can saturate an 8 core/16 thread CPU at times.
 

Richj444

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It would really depend on the game, for coding and compiling they probably aren't going to feel that different. I would normally be biased towards the 6 core for multitasking purposes. However the 12100F is much easier to cool thanks to being only 89W vs the 11400F 154W. Can I ask what sort of games you intend on playing? Also what sort of development tools will you be using?

True, but it's not like the 11400F is hard to cool either. Any decent air cooler or AIO will handle it just fine.
 
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jeremy0118

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12100f 100%

faster in gaming. potential to upgrade to an 12600k and intel 13th gen coming out later this year.

11400f was the best value cpu a year ago but it has lost this value already, as it offers no upgradeability. the i9 11900k is an absolute joke and barely faster at nearly 400$ .a basic h610 msi pro board will handle the 12100f fine at 40$ less cost. for the 11400f you need a rather expensive b560 board and not just any will handle it. hardware unboxed made a great video on the disasterous b560 lineup with most boards not having the vrms to handle it, resulting in up to 30% loss in power. but you can go with something better that will handle future upgrade to a 12600k or 13th gen , as intel will use the same 1700 socket for that. ( well technically it has 1800 pins)

As for a cooler. i would highly recommend the arctic alpine 17 co for 12$ to go along that i3. 12th gen despite being an i3 will run fairly loud on stock, the arctic is really quiet and reliable
 
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It would really depend on the game, for coding and compiling they probably aren't going to feel that different. I would normally be biased towards the 6 core for multitasking purposes. However the 12100F is much easier to cool thanks to being only 89W vs the 11400F 154W. Can I ask what sort of games you intend on playing? Also what sort of development tools will you be using?
hello! sorry for the late reply, im planning to play games like ready or not and csgo(maybe more fps games in the future). I might use development tools related to coding and cyber security, thank u!
 
Sep 4, 2022
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12100f 100%

faster in gaming. potential to upgrade to an 12600k and intel 13th gen coming out later this year.

11400f was the best value cpu a year ago but it has lost this value already, as it offers no upgradeability. the i9 11900k is an absolute joke and barely faster at nearly 400$ .a basic h610 msi pro board will handle the 12100f fine at 40$ less cost. for the 11400f you need a rather expensive b560 board and not just any will handle it. hardware unboxed made a great video on the disasterous b560 lineup with most boards not having the vrms to handle it, resulting in up to 30% loss in power. but you can go with something better that will handle future upgrade to a 12600k or 13th gen , as intel will use the same 1700 socket for that. ( well technically it has 1800 pins)

As for a cooler. i would highly recommend the arctic alpine 17 co for 12$ to go along that i3. 12th gen despite being an i3 will run fairly loud on stock, the arctic is really quiet and reliable
Hey thanks for the reply! Is it a good idea to go with the b660m board with the 12100f? And would the deepcool ak400 go well with the cpu, Cheers!
 

jeremy0118

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Hey thanks for the reply! Is it a good idea to go with the b660m board with the 12100f? And would the deepcool ak400 go well with the cpu, Cheers!

yeah msi has been killing it with their vrm quality so a msi pro b660m-a d4 would be great, it will handle a 12600k with ease and probably next gen i7-i9 aswell. if you however dont plan on upgrading then the msi pro h610 will do fine. as for the deepcool ak400, its to me overkill for the 12100f. the alpine 17 will do absolutely fine while doing it quiet. but again if you want to upgrade along the line then u have a capable cooler already
 
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yeah msi has been killing it with their vrm quality so a msi pro b660m-a d4 would be great, it will handle a 12600k with ease and probably next gen i7-i9 aswell. if you however dont plan on upgrading then the msi pro h610 will do fine. as for the deepcool ak400, its to me overkill for the 12100f. the alpine 17 will do absolutely fine while doing it quiet. but again if you want to upgrade along the line then u have a capable cooler already
Hey! Is the asus prime b660m a wifi a good choice?Cheers!
 

jeremy0118

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Hey! Is the asus prime b660m a wifi a good choice?Cheers!

its a decent choice yep. probably wont handle an i9 but up to a 12600k will do fine. i like asus as a motherboard brand as i have had good luck with their prime for midrange cpu's in terms of stability and reliability. they are not meant for the big boys such as an 12900
 
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its a decent choice yep. probably wont handle an i9 but up to a 12600k will do fine. i like asus as a motherboard brand as i have had good luck with their prime for midrange cpu's in terms of stability and reliability. they are not meant for the big boys such as an 12900
will it be a good idea to run it with a 12100f? Thanks for the help btw =)
 
Not being an Intel guy I’d recommend the i3 and a good board. A lot for the fact that the board should support 13th gen so you should be able to upgrade later. I think with 11th gen you’d be limited in that area. Especially starting with an i3 you’ll appreciate that ability later. Myself I just updated my old b350 board and was able to upgrade to a 5900x. That’s one thing amd does better at, but in the Intel camp I’d look at 12th gen and hopefully you can upgrade later if needed.
 

Karadjgne

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12100. Works better with Windows 11 than the 11400 platform. Even a 1% advantage is an advantage. For games like CSGO the 12100 is closer to a 11600 in performance.

There's also the possibility of resale of the 12100 in the not to distant future and moving to a 12400 which has all the benefits of both the 11400 core count and the 12100 better IPC.

No point on buying equipment with more limitations than it does benefits.
 
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jeremy0118

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hey man another question, will the MSI PRO B660M-A WiFi DDR4 be a better choice than the asus b660m? I heard with the msi it runs well but i gotta update the bios which i can do it. Cheers!
depends on the price diffrence
the msi has better vrms to deal with the high power draw of high end i9s but with an i3 or i5 of choice it wont matter the asus board will handle it just fine
 
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depends on the price diffrence
the msi has better vrms to deal with the high power draw of high end i9s but with an i3 or i5 of choice it wont matter the asus board will handle it just fine
It's 20 dollars cheaper here lol. But according to pcpartpicker it said the msi pro b660m-a wifi ddr4 micro atx lga1700 motherboard supports the intel core i3-12100f 3.3 ghz quad-core processor with bios version 7d43v11. if the motherboard is using an older bios version, upgrading the bios will be necessary to support the cpu. How do i fix it when i build my pc? Thanks for the help, sorry im a noob
 

jeremy0118

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It's 20 dollars cheaper here lol. But according to pcpartpicker it said the
It's 20 dollars cheaper here lol. But according to pcpartpicker it said the msi pro b660m-a wifi ddr4 micro atx lga1700 motherboard supports the intel core i3-12100f 3.3 ghz quad-core processor with bios version 7d43v11. if the motherboard is using an older bios version, upgrading the bios will be necessary to support the cpu. How do i fix it when i build my pc? Thanks for the help, sorry im a noob

dont know. its a gamble wether it will work out of the box. just go with the prime
 

KyaraM

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It's 20 dollars cheaper here lol. But according to pcpartpicker it said the msi pro b660m-a wifi ddr4 micro atx lga1700 motherboard supports the intel core i3-12100f 3.3 ghz quad-core processor with bios version 7d43v11. if the motherboard is using an older bios version, upgrading the bios will be necessary to support the cpu. How do i fix it when i build my pc? Thanks for the help, sorry im a noob
They came out at the same time iirc. The BIOS shouldn't be an issue. B-series boards are meant for CPUs that cannot/will not be overclocked, and they were released simultaneously with those. It would make no sense for the BIOS not to match here. I would go with the MSI board if it's cheaper than the ASUS, too. The Pro series is excellent this generation, I got the Pro Z690-A for a 12700K and it's a really good board that handles it well. From wha tI read, the B660 version is even better in its B660 category.
 

Karadjgne

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That bios was released on March 21st,2022 so at this point, finding a B660 that has an older bios is going to be rare since the boards were released in January but have had high enough sales since, that any of the boards built in those 3 months are long gone from shelves.
 
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They came out at the same time iirc. The BIOS shouldn't be an issue. B-series boards are meant for CPUs that cannot/will not be overclocked, and they were released simultaneously with those. It would make no sense for the BIOS not to match here. I would go with the MSI board if it's cheaper than the ASUS, too. The Pro series is excellent this generation, I got the Pro Z690-A for a 12700K and it's a really good board that handles it well. From wha tI read, the B660 version is even better in its B660 category.
Ah i see, is it ok if i show u my pc parts on pcpartpicker?