Intel Core i5 12400 "Alder Lake": A Great ~$200 CPU For Linux Users Review - Phoronix

Formally announced at CES, the Core i5 12400 and other Alder Lake non-K desktop CPUs are beginning to appear in retail channels. Last week I was able to buy an Intel Core i5 12400 "Alder Lake" from a major Internet retailer for $209 USD -- and one week later there remains availability during these turbulent supply chain times. The i5-12400 has wound up being a very nice processor for Linux use that exceeded my initial expectations.

The Intel Core i5 12400 is a 6 core / 12 thread Alder Lake processor. Making it rather nice is that the i5-12400 is comprised entirely of the performance P-Cores (Golden Cove) without any of the power-efficient Gracemont cores. With going for an all P core design, it's nicer from the Linux angle in not needing to worry about any kinks or poor decision making by the kernel as to whether some tasks get accidentally placed on the E cores. So it's one less Linux support headache to worry about even though Intel has been working on Linux kernel improvements, motherboard vendors beginning to ship improved firmware, etc.

The six P cores have a 2.50GHz base frequency and a 4.4GHz maximum turbo frequency. The Core i5 12400 is rated for a 65 Watt base power with a 117 Watt maximum turbo power. There is 18MB of Intel Smart Cache with this processor.

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