Core i5-12400 vs Core i7-6700

The short answer

On paper, the Core i5-12400 is the stronger processor, ahead of the Core i7-6700 in 8 of the specs we compare (the Core i7-6700 leads in 0).

• The Core i5-12400 is 6 generations newer (12th gen, launched Q1'22) than the Core i7-6700 (6th gen, Q3'15). The newer chip uses a newer core design that generally gets more work done per clock, so clock speeds alone understate the gap.
• The Core i5-12400 has 6 cores and 12 threads, against 4 cores and 8 threads on the Core i7-6700. More cores and threads help most with multitasking, video editing, 3D rendering, compiling code and other work that spreads across many cores.
• The Core i5-12400 reaches 4.40 GHz with turbo, 10% higher than the Core i7-6700's 4.00 GHz. Higher clocks help games and everyday apps that lean on a few fast cores.
• The Core i5-12400 has 18 MB of cache versus 8 MB.
• They use different sockets (FCLGA1700 vs FCLGA1151), so each needs its own motherboard: you can't swap one into the other's board.
• The Core i5-12400 supports DDR5 as well as DDR4 memory (depending on the motherboard); the Core i7-6700 is limited to DDR4 + DDR3L.

This verdict is generated from official specifications only. We haven't benchmarked these processors, so it doesn't measure real-world speed in games or apps; check independent benchmarks for your specific use.