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Intel Core i5-12500T

Intel Core i5-12500T: Comprehensive Review of the 2025 Processor

Relevant for PC builders, office users, and energy efficiency enthusiasts

1. Key Features: Architecture and Innovations

Alder Lake Hybrid Architecture

The Intel Core i5-12500T is built on the Alder Lake hybrid architecture (Intel 7, 10nm Enhanced SuperFin). It features 6 cores (only Performance-cores, no Efficient-cores) and 12 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading.

- Base clock: 2.00 GHz, Max Turbo clock: 4.40 GHz.

- L3 Cache: 18 MB — sufficient for processing data in office applications and light creative tasks.

- TDP: 35 W — focused on energy efficiency.

Key Features

- Intel Thread Director: Optimizes task distribution between cores, improving system responsiveness.

- Support for PCIe 5.0 and DDR5: Future-proof solution for upgrades.

- Intel UHD Graphics 770: 32 EUs, clocked up to 1.45 GHz — suitable for 4K video and less demanding games.

Performance:

- Geekbench 6: 2179 (Single-Core), 7479 (Multi-Core).

Example: In Photoshop, processing a 20-megapixel photo takes ~3 seconds, rendering a 5-minute video in Premiere Pro takes about 12 minutes.

2. Compatible Motherboards

LGA 1700 Socket and Chipsets

The processor works with motherboards based on H610, B660, H670, Z690 chipsets.

- H610: Budget option (starting at $80), no overclocking and no PCIe 5.0. Example: Gigabyte H610M-H.

- B660: Optimal choice (starting at $120). Supports DDR4/DDR5, PCIe 4.0. Example: ASUS Prime B660M-A D4 ($130).

- Z690: For enthusiasts (starting at $200). Memory overclocking, PCIe 5.0. Example: MSI Pro Z690-A ($200).

Choosing Tips:

- Ensure the motherboard supports either DDR4 or DDR5 (not all models are compatible with both types).

- For mini-PCs, compact formats (Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX) are suitable, such as ASRock B660M-ITX/ac ($150).

3. Memory Support: DDR4 vs DDR5

The processor works with DDR4-3200 and DDR5-4800.

- DDR4: Cheaper (16 GB — $50), suitable for office and multimedia tasks.

- DDR5: Faster (16 GB — $80), useful for rendering and gaming with a discrete graphics card.

Tip: If your budget is tight, opt for DDR4 — the difference in everyday tasks is almost negligible.

4. Power Supply Recommendations

Considering the TDP of 35 W and a discrete graphics card:

- Without a graphics card: A PSU of 300–400 W is sufficient (e.g., be quiet! Pure Power 11 400W, $60).

- With a graphics card like the RTX 3060: 500–600 W (Corsair CX550M, $65; EVGA 600 GD, $70).

Important: Choose power supplies with an 80 Plus Bronze certification or higher for stability and energy saving.

5. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Low power consumption — ideal for compact PCs and offices.

- Support for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 — a future-proof feature.

- Good integrated graphics for less demanding tasks.

Cons:

- Does not support overclocking (only on Z690 chipset).

- In games with integrated graphics — modest results (e.g., Cyberpunk 2077 at 720p — 18–22 FPS).

- Price is higher than AMD Ryzen 5 7600 ($250 vs $220).

6. Use Cases

- Office and Study: Quick work with Office, browsers (20+ tabs), Zoom.

- Multimedia: Streaming 4K video, editing in DaVinci Resolve (projects up to 1080p).

- Games: With a discrete graphics card (e.g., RTX 3060) — 60+ FPS in Full HD (Apex Legends, Fortnite).

Real User Experience: Users note the system operates quietly even under load due to the low TDP.

7. Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Ryzen 5 7600: 6/12, 3.8–5.1 GHz, TDP 65 W. Better in multi-threaded tasks (+15% in Cinebench R23), but more expensive ($280) and requires powerful cooling.

- Intel Core i5-12400: Without the T suffix, TDP 65 W. Higher base clock (2.5 GHz), but less energy-efficient.

Conclusion: The i5-12500T excels in the compact and quiet systems segment.

8. Practical Assembly Tips

1. Cooling: The stock cooler is sufficient, but for quiet operation, choose a tower cooler (Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 V2, $25).

2. Case: For mini-PCs — Fractal Design Node 304 ($90).

3. BIOS: Update before installing the OS for compatibility with Windows 11.

Example Build:

- Motherboard: ASUS Prime B660M-A D4 ($130).

- Memory: 16 GB DDR4-3200 ($50).

- Storage: WD Blue SN570 1 TB ($70).

- PSU: Corsair CX550M ($65).

- Total: ~$550 without a graphics card.

9. Final Verdict: Who is the i5-12500T Suitable For?

This processor is the perfect choice for:

- Office PCs: Low power consumption + stability.

- Home Media Centers: 4K video, streaming.

- Compact Builds: Mini-ITX systems with quiet cooling.

Not Recommended For: Gamers requiring 1440p/4K and professionals in 3D rendering.

Price in 2025: $220–250. For this price, you get a balance between performance, energy efficiency, and future-proof technologies.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

January 2022

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i5-12500T

Code Name

Alder Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Performance-cores

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

4.40 GHz

Performance-core Base Frequency

2.00 GHz

Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency

Maximum P-core turbo frequency derived from Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.

4.40 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom.

L3 Cache

18 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1700

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

Intel 7

TDP

35 W

Processor Base Power

The time-averaged power dissipation that the processor is validated to not exceed during manufacturing while executing an Intel-specified high complexity workload at Base Frequency and at the junction temperature as specified in the Datasheet for the SKU segment and configuration.

35 W

Maximum Turbo Power

The maximum sustained (>1s) power dissipation of the processor as limited by current and/or temperature controls. Instantaneous power may exceed Maximum Turbo Power for short durations (<=10ms). Note: Maximum Turbo Power is configurable by system vendor and can be system specific.

74 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

5.0 and 4.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16+4 | 2x8+4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

Up to DDR5 4800 MT/s Up to DDR4 3200 MT/s

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

76.8 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Yes

GPU Specifications

Integrated Graphics Model

An integrated GPU refers to the graphics core that is integrated into the CPU processor. Leveraging the processor's powerful computational capabilities and intelligent power efficiency management, it delivers outstanding graphics performance and a smooth application experience at a lower power consumption.

Intel® UHD Graphics 770

Graphics Base Frequency

Graphics Base frequency refers to the rated/guaranteed graphics render clock frequency in MHz.

300 MHz

Graphics Frequency

Graphics max dynamic frequency refers to the maximum opportunistic graphics render clock frequency (in MHz) that can be supported using Intel® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency feature.

1.45 GHz

DirectX Support

DirectX* Support indicates support for a specific version of Microsoft’s collection of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for handling multimedia compute tasks.

Execution Units

The Execution Unit is the foundational building block of Intel’s graphics architecture. Execution Units are compute processors optimized for simultaneous Multi-Threading for high throughput compute power.

Max Resolution (HDMI)

Max Resolution (HDMI) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the HDMI interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz

Max Resolution (DP)

Max Resolution (DP) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor via the DP interface (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your system.

7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)

Max Resolution (Integrated Flat Panel) is the maximum resolution supported by the processor for a device with an integrated flat panel (24bits per pixel & 60Hz). System or device display resolution is dependent on multiple system design factors; actual resolution may be lower on your device.

5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.

eDP 1.4b | DP 1.4a | HDMI 2.1

Miscellaneous

Intel Deep Learning Boost (Intel DL Boost) on CPU

A new set of embedded processor technologies designed to accelerate AI deep learning use cases. It extends Intel AVX-512 with a new Vector Neural Network Instruction (VNNI) that significantly increases deep learning inference performance over previous generations.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

18 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT)

Yes

Intel Volume Management Device (VMD)

Intel® Volume Management Device (VMD) provides a common, robust method of hot plug and LED management for NVMe-based solid state drives.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

Intel Hardware Shield Eligibility

Yes

Intel Clear Video HD Technology

Intel® Clear Video HD Technology, like its predecessor, Intel® Clear Video Technology, is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology adds video quality enhancements for richer color and more realistic skin tones.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel Control-Flow Enforcement Technology

CET - Intel Control-flow Enforcement Technology (CET) helps protect against the misuse of legitimate code snippets through return-oriented programming (ROP) control-flow hijacking attacks.

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

OpenGL Support

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics.

4.5

OpenCL Support

OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a multi-platform API (Application Programming Interface) for heterogeneous parallel programming.

3.0

Intel Quick Sync Video

Intel® Quick Sync Video delivers fast conversion of video for portable media players, online sharing, and video editing and authoring.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

2179

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

7479

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1699

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

7358

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

3521

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

16575

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i5-13600T

2387 +9.5%

Xeon w7-2495X

2262 +3.8%

Core i5-12500T

2179

Xeon E-2314

2077 -4.7%

Ryzen 7 5700

1988 -8.8%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Core i9-10900F

8390 +12.2%

Core i7-9800X

7991 +6.8%

Core i5-12500T

7479

Ryzen 9 5980HS

7015 -6.2%

Ryzen 3 8440U

6598 -11.8%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core Ultra 7 165H

1875 +10.4%

Ryzen 7 7840HS

1776 +4.5%

Core i5-12500T

1699

Core i5-1350PE

1638 -3.6%

Core i7-1265UL

1575 -7.3%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Ryzen 7 5700

8133 +10.5%

7742 +5.2%

Core i5-12500T

7358

Xeon W-1270TE

6969 -5.3%

Xeon E-2336

6578 -10.6%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Core i5-13500TE

3711 +5.4%

Core i3-13100F

3612 +2.6%

Core i5-12500T

3521

Ryzen 9 5900

3449 -2%

Core i3-1210U

3367 -4.4%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Xeon E7-8880 v3

18244 +10.1%

Core i5-11500

17393 +4.9%

Core i5-12500T

16575

Xeon E5-2660

16070 -3%

Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U

15232 -8.1%