Intel is expected to announce the company's non-K series Alder Lake processors at CES 2022. The Core i5-12400F, touted to be one of the best CPUs, has reportedly gone on sale in Peru. Peruvian news outlet XanxoGaming managed to buy a retail sample and unbox it for our pleasure.
Renders of Intel's overhauled CPU stock coolers for Alder Lake first emerged back in September. XanxoGaming's latest unboxing confirms the rumors of the new coolers. The cooler that's included with the Core i5-12400F appears to match the design for the Laminar RM1. We're looking at a spiral heatsink with aluminum fins and what appears to be a blue LED strip around the fan. The cooling fan feeds off a standard 4-pin fan connection.
if you're the observant type, you'll notice that the RM1 bears a resemblance to AMD's Wraith Stealth or Spire coolers. Intel stopped including stock coolers with its K-series chips a couple of processor generations ago. However, the non-K SKUs are tailored towards budget-oriented consumers that generally stick with the stock cooler. Therefore, the Laminar series of coolers will prove useful for the segment in which the non-K series compete.
From what we've seen from benchmark leaks and retailer listings, the Core i5-12400F presumably wields six Golden Cove cores with a 2.5 GHz base clock. However, the hexa-core chip has been rumored to boost up to 4.4 GHz with ease. Given the core configuration, it's easy to see that the Core i5-12400F contends with AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X. Preliminary application and gaming benchmarks of the Core i5-12400F were impressive, and enthusiasts have dubbed the hexa-core Alder Lake chip as the Ryzen 5 5600X killer.
Price is equally important as performance, and the Core i5-12400F should give the Ryzen 5 5600X a run for its money. XanxoGaming bought the Core i5-12400F for $222 with 18% VAT included. Without VAT, the Core i5-12400F would retail for around $188. Early retailer listings have the Core i5-12400F and Core i5-12400 at $200 and $230, respectively. Therefore, the former may arrive with an MSRP between $185 and $200. For comparison, the Ryzen 5 5600X retails for $299 so Intel appears to have a winner in its hands.
Intel's budget 600-series chipsets are also rumored to launch at CES 2022. Therefore, the Core i5-12400F will be a popular candidate for B660 or H610 motherboards along with the best DDR4 RAM since there is a shortage of DDR5 memory kits.
