Core i5-10400F vs Ryzen 5 4600HS

PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, productivity performance, platform differences, power efficiency, pricing context, and upgrade path so you can see which CPU actually makes more sense.

Core i5-10400F

2020

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +4.7% higher average FPS across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+50% larger total L3 cache (12 MB vs 8 MB).
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (16 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Includes a boxed cooler (Yes), unlike Ryzen 5 4600HS.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (13,029 vs 14,349).
❌Launch MSRP is still $160 MSRP, while Ryzen 5 4600HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌85.7% higher power demand at 65W vs 35W.

Ryzen 5 4600HS

2020

Why buy it

✅+10.1% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 35W instead of 65W, a 30W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Core i5-10400F across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (8 MB vs 12 MB).
❌No boxed cooler included, unlike Core i5-10400F.

Core i5-10400F

2020

Ryzen 5 4600HS

2020

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +4.7% higher average FPS across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+50% larger total L3 cache (12 MB vs 8 MB).
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (16 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Includes a boxed cooler (Yes), unlike Ryzen 5 4600HS.

Why buy it

✅+10.1% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 35W instead of 65W, a 30W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (13,029 vs 14,349).
❌Launch MSRP is still $160 MSRP, while Ryzen 5 4600HS mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌85.7% higher power demand at 65W vs 35W.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Core i5-10400F across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (8 MB vs 12 MB).
❌No boxed cooler included, unlike Core i5-10400F.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 5 4600HS better than Core i5-10400F?

It depends on what matters more to you. For gaming, Core i5-10400F is ahead with a 4.7% average FPS lead across 4 shared CPU game tests in our data. For rendering, compiling, streaming, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 5 4600HS pulls ahead with 10.1% better PassMark. Core i5-10400F also has the bigger cache pool with 50% larger total L3 cache (12 MB vs 8 MB).

Which one is better for streaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking?

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 5 4600HS is the better fit. You are getting 10.1% better PassMark, backed by 6 cores and 12 threads.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper CPU?

Ryzen 5 4600HS is still the faster CPU overall, but Core i5-10400F makes more sense if price matters more than absolute performance. Ryzen 5 4600HS is at an unclear MSRP at unclear MSRP versus $160 MSRP, and it gives you 10.1% better PassMark. The trade-off is that Core i5-10400F is still the better pure gaming CPU with a 4.7% average FPS lead across 4 shared CPU game tests in our data. Core i5-10400F is also 100.0% better value on MSRP (81.4 vs 0.0 PassMark/$), which is why it is easier to justify for price-conscious builds on paper.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Ryzen 5 4600HS is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting more multi-core headroom with 6 cores / 12 threads instead of 6/12. That extra compute headroom should age better as games, background tasks, and creator workloads get heavier.

Games Benchmarks

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Core i5-10400F Benchmark Check

Ryzen 5 4600HS Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
1080p
low	192 FPS	173 FPS
medium	152 FPS	141 FPS
high	123 FPS	112 FPS
ultra	100 FPS	89 FPS
1440p
low	153 FPS	148 FPS
medium	119 FPS	119 FPS
high	97 FPS	93 FPS
ultra	79 FPS	73 FPS
4K
low	82 FPS	69 FPS
medium	70 FPS	60 FPS
high	55 FPS	47 FPS
ultra	43 FPS	37 FPS

Open Core i5-10400F Open Ryzen 5 4600HS

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
1080p
low	326 FPS	267 FPS
medium	318 FPS	224 FPS
high	290 FPS	196 FPS
ultra	253 FPS	153 FPS
1440p
low	326 FPS	225 FPS
medium	292 FPS	193 FPS
high	267 FPS	173 FPS
ultra	234 FPS	139 FPS
4K
low	309 FPS	192 FPS
medium	258 FPS	171 FPS
high	235 FPS	149 FPS
ultra	199 FPS	114 FPS

Open Core i5-10400F Open Ryzen 5 4600HS

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
1080p
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	359 FPS
high	326 FPS	359 FPS
ultra	326 FPS	359 FPS
1440p
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	359 FPS
high	326 FPS	359 FPS
ultra	326 FPS	359 FPS
4K
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	353 FPS
high	289 FPS	301 FPS
ultra	229 FPS	242 FPS

Open Core i5-10400F Open Ryzen 5 4600HS

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
1080p
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	359 FPS
high	326 FPS	359 FPS
ultra	326 FPS	359 FPS
1440p
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	359 FPS
high	326 FPS	359 FPS
ultra	326 FPS	359 FPS
4K
low	326 FPS	359 FPS
medium	326 FPS	359 FPS
high	326 FPS	342 FPS
ultra	326 FPS	287 FPS

Open Core i5-10400F Open Ryzen 5 4600HS

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Core i5-10400F and Ryzen 5 4600HS

Core i5-10400F

The Core i5-10400F is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 30 April 2020 (5 years ago). It is based on the Comet Lake (2020−2025) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 2.9 GHz, with boost up to 4.3 GHz. L3 cache: 12 MB (total). L2 cache: 256K (per core). Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA1200. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 13,029 points. Launch price was $155.

Ryzen 5 4600HS

The Ryzen 5 4600HS is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 6 January 2020 (5 years ago). It is based on the Renoir-HS (Zen 2) (2020) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 3 GHz, with boost up to 4 GHz. L3 cache: 8 MB (total). L2 cache: 512 kB (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: FP6. Thermal design power (TDP): 35 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-4266. Passmark benchmark score: 14,349 points. Launch price was $149.

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Processing Power

Both the Core i5-10400F and Ryzen 5 4600HS share an identical 6-core/12-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 4.3 GHz on the Core i5-10400F versus 4 GHz on the Ryzen 5 4600HS — a 7.2% clock advantage for the Core i5-10400F (base: 2.9 GHz vs 3 GHz). The Core i5-10400F uses the Comet Lake (2020−2025) architecture (14 nm), while the Ryzen 5 4600HS uses Renoir-HS (Zen 2) (2020) (7 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-10400F scores 13,029 against the Ryzen 5 4600HS's 14,349 — a 9.6% lead for the Ryzen 5 4600HS. L3 cache: 12 MB (total) on the Core i5-10400F vs 8 MB (total) on the Ryzen 5 4600HS.

Feature	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
Cores / Threads	6 / 12	6 / 12
Boost Clock	4.3 GHz+7%	4 GHz
Base Clock	2.9 GHz	3 GHz+3%
L3 Cache	12 MB (total)+50%	8 MB (total)
L2 Cache	256K (per core)	512 kB (per core)+100%
Process	14 nm	7 nm-50%
Architecture	Comet Lake (2020−2025)	Renoir-HS (Zen 2) (2020)
PassMark	13,029	14,349+10%
Cinebench R23 Multi	8,191	—
Geekbench 6 Single	1,454	—
Geekbench 6 Multi	5,783	—

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Memory & Platform

The Core i5-10400F uses the LGA1200 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Ryzen 5 4600HS uses FP6 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard.

Feature	Core i5-10400F	Ryzen 5 4600HS
Socket	LGA1200	FP6
PCIe Generation	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-2666	—
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB	—
RAM Channels	2	—
ECC Support	No	—
PCIe Lanes	16	—

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Advanced Features

Virtualization: VT-x, VT-d (Core i5-10400F) / not specified (Ryzen 5 4600HS). Primary use case: Core i5-10400F targets Gaming. Direct competitor: Core i5-10400F rivals Ryzen 5 3600.