Core i5-3450 vs Celeron G6900

The Core i5-3450 packs 4 cores / 4 threads, while the Celeron G6900 offers 2 cores / 2 threads — the Core i5-3450 has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 3.5 GHz on the Core i5-3450 versus 3.4 GHz on the Celeron G6900 — a 2.9% clock advantage for the Core i5-3450 (base: 3.1 GHz vs 3.4 GHz). The Core i5-3450 uses the Ivy Bridge (2012−2013) architecture (22 nm), while the Celeron G6900 uses Alder Lake-S (2022) (Intel 7 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-3450 scores 4,517 against the Celeron G6900's 4,458 — a 1.3% lead for the Core i5-3450. L3 cache: 6144 kB (total) on the Core i5-3450 vs 4 MB (total) on the Celeron G6900.

The Core i5-3450 uses the LGA1155 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Celeron G6900 uses LGA1700 (PCIe 5.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches 1600 on the Core i5-3450 versus DDR5-4800 on the Celeron G6900 — the Core i5-3450 supports 198.8% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Celeron G6900 supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 32 — 120% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 16 (Core i5-3450) vs 20 (Celeron G6900) — the Celeron G6900 offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Virtualization support: true (Core i5-3450) vs VT-x (Celeron G6900). Both include integrated graphics — Intel HD Graphics 2500 (Core i5-3450) and UHD Graphics 710 (Celeron G6900) — useful as a fallback for troubleshooting or display output without a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Celeron G6900 targets Budget. Direct competitor: Celeron G6900 rivals Pentium Gold G7400.

The Core i5-3450 launched at $184 MSRP, while the Celeron G6900 debuted at $52. At current prices ($95 vs $77), the Celeron G6900 is $18 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i5-3450 delivers 47.5 pts/$ vs 57.9 pts/$ for the Celeron G6900 — making the Celeron G6900 the 19.6% better value option.