Core i5-12400F vs Celeron G1840

The Core i5-12400F packs 6 cores / 12 threads, while the Celeron G1840 offers 2 cores / 2 threads — the Core i5-12400F has 4 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Core i5-12400F versus 2.8 GHz on the Celeron G1840 — a 44.4% clock advantage for the Core i5-12400F (base: 2.5 GHz vs 2.8 GHz). The Core i5-12400F uses the Alder Lake-S (2022) architecture (Intel 7 nm), while the Celeron G1840 uses Haswell (2013−2015) (22 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-12400F scores 19,532 against the Celeron G1840's 1,784 — a 166.5% lead for the Core i5-12400F. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,700 vs 488, a 110.8% lead for the Core i5-12400F that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 657 vs 832 (23.5% advantage for the Celeron G1840). L3 cache: 18 MB (total) on the Core i5-12400F vs 3 MB (total) on the Celeron G1840.

The Core i5-12400F uses the LGA1700 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Celeron G1840 uses LGA1150 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 on the Core i5-12400F versus DDR3-1333 on the Celeron G1840 — the Core i5-12400F supports 50% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Core i5-12400F supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 32 GB — 120% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 20 (Core i5-12400F) vs 16 (Celeron G1840) — the Core i5-12400F offers 4 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: H610,B660,H670,Z690,B760,H770,Z790 (Core i5-12400F) and H81,B85,H87,Z87,H97,Z97 (Celeron G1840).

Virtualization support: VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i5-12400F) vs VT-x (Celeron G1840). The Celeron G1840 includes integrated graphics (HD Graphics (Haswell)), while the Core i5-12400F requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core i5-12400F targets Gaming Performance/Value, Celeron G1840 targets Budget. Direct competitor: Core i5-12400F rivals Ryzen 5 5600; Celeron G1840 rivals Pentium G3240.

The Core i5-12400F launched at $174 MSRP, while the Celeron G1840 debuted at $35. At current prices ($110 vs $30), the Celeron G1840 is $80 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i5-12400F delivers 177.6 pts/$ vs 59.5 pts/$ for the Celeron G1840 — making the Core i5-12400F the 99.6% better value option.