Core i5-12400F vs Xeon Max 9480

Core i5-12400F

6 Cores12 Thrd65 WWMax: 4.4 GHz2022

Xeon Max 9480

56 Cores112 Thrd350 WWMax: 3.5 GHz2023

Performance Spectrum - CPU

Core i5-12400F

6 / 12

19,532

0.0%

82,913

+324.5%

About PassMark

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.

Value Upgrade Path

This is the official ChipVERSUS Value Rating, comparing raw performance (PassMark) per dollar. Components placed above yours deliver better value for money.

MSRP is the manufacturer's suggested retail price.•
Avg price is the current average price collected from markets across the web.

Performance Per Dollar Core i5-12400F

#15

Core i3-8300T

MSRP: $138|Avg: $25

121%

#16

Core Ultra 5 225F

MSRP: $231|Avg: $150

118%

#17

Core Ultra 7 265K

MSRP: $309|Avg: $285

116%

#18

Ryzen 9 3900

MSRP: $499|Avg: $150

115%

#19

Ryzen 5 3600X

MSRP: $249|Avg: $90

113%

#20

Core i7-14700KF

MSRP: $384|Avg: $260

113%

#21

Core i7-14700K

MSRP: $409|Avg: $270

109%

#22

Ryzen 5 4500

MSRP: $129|Avg: $85

106%

#23

Ryzen 5 5600

MSRP: $199|Avg: $115

106%

#24

Celeron G5925

MSRP: $62|Avg: $15

105%

#25

Ryzen 5 7500F

MSRP: $179|Avg: $145

104%

#26

Core Ultra 5 245

MSRP: $319|Avg: $220

103%

#27

Ryzen 7 2700

MSRP: $299|Avg: $86

102%

#28

Core Ultra 7 265KF

MSRP: $379|Avg: $323

102%

#29

Core Ultra 7 265F

MSRP: $369|Avg: $276

100%

#30

Core i5-12400F

MSRP: $174|Avg: $110

100%

#31

Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G

MSRP: $130|Avg: $80

99%

#32

Ryzen 7 2700X

MSRP: $329|Avg: $100

98%

#33

Core i3-10100F

MSRP: $88|Avg: $50

98%

#34

Ryzen 5 7400F

MSRP: $150|Avg: $147

98%

#35

Ryzen 5 9600X

MSRP: $279|Avg: $178

95%

#36

Ryzen 7 3800X

MSRP: $399|Avg: $140

93%

#37

Ryzen 3 5300G

MSRP: $130|Avg: $80

92%

#38

Ryzen 9 7900X

MSRP: $549|Avg: $316

91%

#39

Ryzen 5 5600X

MSRP: $299|Avg: $135

91%

#40

Core i5-14600KF

MSRP: $304|Avg: $239

91%

#41

Ryzen 7 5800

MSRP: $349|Avg: $160

91%

#42

Core i3-14100F

MSRP: $109|Avg: $96

90%

#43

Ryzen 7 3700X

MSRP: $329|Avg: $140

90%

#44

Ryzen 5 7600X

MSRP: $299|Avg: $178

90%

#45

Ryzen 3 3100

MSRP: $99|Avg: $75

90%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Per Dollar Xeon Max 9480

#514

Xeon E5-2658A V3

MSRP: $1832|Avg: $200

127%

#515

Xeon E5-4640 v4

MSRP: $2837|Avg: N/A

124%

#516

Xeon E7-8867 v3

MSRP: $4672|Avg: $4672

124%

#517

Xeon Gold 6150

MSRP: $3358|Avg: $196

123%

#518

Xeon E5-1680 v3

MSRP: $1723|Avg: $200

121%

#519

Xeon E5-2690 v3

MSRP: $2090|Avg: $85

120%

#520

Xeon 6780E

MSRP: $11350|Avg: $8513

120%

#521

Xeon E5-2697A v4

MSRP: $2891|Avg: $121

117%

#522

Xeon Gold 6134

MSRP: $2214|Avg: $378

117%

#523

Xeon Gold 6138T

MSRP: $2742|Avg: $400

116%

#524

Xeon E5-2675 V3

MSRP: $1800|Avg: $100

115%

#524

Xeon E5-2676 V3

MSRP: $1800|Avg: $36

115%

#524

Xeon E7-4880 v2

MSRP: $6619|Avg: $185

115%

#527

Xeon Platinum 8592+

MSRP: $11600|Avg: $11600

113%

#528

Xeon E5-2687W v3

MSRP: $2141|Avg: $749

106%

#529

Xeon Max 9480

MSRP: $12980|Avg: $12980

100%

#530

Xeon E5-2689 v4

MSRP: $2723|Avg: $100

98%

#531

EPYC 7543

MSRP: $10257|Avg: $468

96%

#532

Xeon Platinum 8368Q

MSRP: $7719|Avg: $7719

95%

#533

Xeon Gold 6250

MSRP: $3400|Avg: $2000

95%

#534

Xeon E5-2699 v4

MSRP: $4115|Avg: $400

94%

#535

Xeon W-3245M

MSRP: $5002|Avg: $5002

89%

#536

Xeon W-3265M

MSRP: $6300|Avg: $3500

88%

#537

Xeon Platinum 8180

MSRP: $10009|Avg: $2363

60%

#538

Xeon Platinum 8280M

MSRP: $10009|Avg: $6223

59%

#539

Xeon Platinum 8280

MSRP: $10009|Avg: $2940

58%

#540

Xeon E7-8891 v3

MSRP: $6841|Avg: $418

49%

#541

Xeon E5-4669 v4

MSRP: $7007|Avg: $300

39%

Based on actual market prices and performance synthetic scores.

Performance Comparison

About PassMark

🏆 Chipversus Verdict

🚀 Performance Leadership

Use Case Distinction: This is a comparison between a Professional Workstation processor ($12,980) and a Consumer Desktop CPU. The Xeon Max 9480 is engineered for massive parallel workloads (rendering, scientific simulations), offering significantly higher core counts.

Insight	Core i5-12400F	Xeon Max 9480
Gaming	❌ Lower gaming performance	✅ Superior gaming performance
Workstation	❌ Weaker in multi-core tasks	✅ Better multi-core power
Price	✅ More affordable ($110)	⚠️ Higher cost ($12,980)
Longevity	✨ Modern (Alder Lake-S (2022) / Intel 7 nm)	✨ Modern (Sapphire Rapids HBM (2023) / 10 nm)

💎 Value Proposition

The Core i5-12400F ($110), however, is optimized for mixed workloads and gaming. For most users, it offers superior single-thread performance and responsiveness at a fraction of the cost ($12,870 less, 99% cheaper), making it the better choice for daily use and gaming.

Insight	Core i5-12400F	Xeon Max 9480
Cost Efficiency	✅ Better overall value (+2680%)	❌ Lower cost efficiency
Upfront Cost	✅ More affordable ($110)	⚠️ Higher cost ($12,980)

Performance Check

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 i5-12400F Benchmark Check

Xeon Max 9480 Benchmark Check

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Core i5-12400F and Xeon Max 9480

Core i5-12400F

The Core i5-12400F is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 4 January 2022 (3 years ago). It is based on the Alder Lake-S (2022) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 2.5 GHz, with boost up to 4.4 GHz. L3 cache: 18 MB (total). L2 cache: 1.25 MB (per core). Built on Intel 7 nm process technology. Socket: LGA1700. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200. Passmark benchmark score: 19,532 points. Launch price was $180.

Xeon Max 9480

The Xeon Max 9480 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 10 January 2023 (2 years ago). It is based on the Sapphire Rapids HBM (2023) architecture. It features 56 cores and 112 threads. Base frequency is 1.9 GHz, with boost up to 3.5 GHz. L3 cache: 112.5 MB. L2 cache: 2 MB (per core). Built on 10 nm process technology. Socket: LGA4677. Thermal design power (TDP): 350 Watt. Memory support: DDR5-4800. Passmark benchmark score: 82,913 points. Launch price was $12,980.

⚡

Processing Power

The Core i5-12400F packs 6 cores / 12 threads, while the Xeon Max 9480 offers 56 cores / 112 threads — the Xeon Max 9480 has 50 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Core i5-12400F versus 3.5 GHz on the Xeon Max 9480 — a 22.8% clock advantage for the Core i5-12400F (base: 2.5 GHz vs 1.9 GHz). The Core i5-12400F uses the Alder Lake-S (2022) architecture (Intel 7 nm), while the Xeon Max 9480 uses Sapphire Rapids HBM (2023) (10 nm). In PassMark, the Core i5-12400F scores 19,532 against the Xeon Max 9480's 82,913 — a 123.7% lead for the Xeon Max 9480. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 1,700 vs 1,900, a 11.1% lead for the Xeon Max 9480 that directly translates to higher frame rates. Multi-core Geekbench: 657 vs 55,000 (195.3% advantage for the Xeon Max 9480). L3 cache: 18 MB (total) on the Core i5-12400F vs 112.5 MB on the Xeon Max 9480.

Feature	Core i5-12400F	Xeon Max 9480
Cores / Threads	6 / 12	56 / 112+833%
Boost Clock	4.4 GHz+26%	3.5 GHz
Base Clock	2.5 GHz+32%	1.9 GHz
L3 Cache	18 MB (total)	112.5 MB+525%
L2 Cache	1.25 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)+60%
Process	Intel 7 nm-30%	10 nm
Architecture	Alder Lake-S (2022)	Sapphire Rapids HBM (2023)
PassMark	19,532	82,913+324%
Cinebench R23 Multi	12,380	—
Geekbench 6 Single	1,700	1,900+12%
Geekbench 6 Multi	657	55,000+8271%

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Core i5-12400F uses the LGA1700 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Xeon Max 9480 uses LGA4677 (PCIe 4.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 memory speed. The Xeon Max 9480 supports up to 4096 GB of RAM compared to 128 GB — 187.9% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Core i5-12400F) vs 8 (Xeon Max 9480). PCIe lanes: 20 (Core i5-12400F) vs 80 (Xeon Max 9480) — the Xeon Max 9480 offers 60 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: H610,B660,H670,Z690,B760,H770,Z790 (Core i5-12400F) and C741 (Xeon Max 9480).

Feature	Core i5-12400F	Xeon Max 9480
Socket	LGA1700	LGA4677
PCIe Generation	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 4.0+33%
Max RAM Speed	DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200	DDR5-4800
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB	4096 GB+3100%
RAM Channels	2	8+300%
ECC Support	❌	✅
PCIe Lanes	20	80+300%

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization support: VT-x, VT-d, EPT (Core i5-12400F) vs VT-x, VT-d (Xeon Max 9480). Primary use case: Core i5-12400F targets Gaming Performance/Value, Xeon Max 9480 targets HPC Server. Direct competitor: Core i5-12400F rivals Ryzen 5 5600; Xeon Max 9480 rivals EPYC 9684X.

Feature	Core i5-12400F	Xeon Max 9480
Integrated GPU	No	No
IGPU Model	—	None
Unlocked	—	No
AVX-512	—	Yes
Virtualization	VT-x, VT-d, EPT	VT-x, VT-d
Target Use	Gaming Performance/Value	HPC Server

💰

Value Analysis

The Core i5-12400F launched at $174 MSRP, while the Xeon Max 9480 debuted at $12980. At current prices ($110 vs $12980), the Core i5-12400F is $12870 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core i5-12400F delivers 177.6 pts/$ vs 6.4 pts/$ for the Xeon Max 9480 — making the Core i5-12400F the 186.1% better value option.