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Intel Core i5-6400T

Intel Core i5-6400T: Review and PC Build Recommendations for 2025

(Relevant as of April 2025)

Key Specifications: Architecture and Performance

The Intel Core i5-6400T processor, released in 2015, continues to be a niche solution for specific tasks due to its energy efficiency.

Skylake Architecture and 14 nm Process Technology

Based on the Skylake architecture, the i5-6400T uses a 14 nm process, which at its time provided a balance between performance and power consumption. With four cores operating at a base frequency of 2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz) and a TDP of 35W, it is ideal for compact systems.

Key Features:

- Support for AVX2 instructions for accelerated calculations.

- Integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 (24 EUs).

- Energy-saving technologies such as Speed Shift.

Performance:

- In the Geekbench 6 test (2025): 913 points (single-core), 2494 points (multi-core).

- For comparison, the modern Ryzen 3 8300G (2024) scores around ~1500/4500 points.

Compatible Motherboards: Sockets and Chipsets

LGA 1151 Socket and 100-Series Chipsets

The i5-6400T requires motherboards with LGA 1151 socket and chipsets H110, B150, H170, Z170.

Selection Recommendations:

- Budget Option: ASUS H110M-K (approximately $60 in 2025) — minimum ports but reliable operation.

- For Upgrade: MSI B150M Pro-VD ($70–80) — supports DDR4 and M.2 NVMe (via adapters).

- Important: 200-series chipsets (e.g., B250) require BIOS updates for compatibility.

Features:

- No support for PCIe 4.0/5.0 — maximum speed is PCIe 3.0 x16.

- USB 3.0 and SATA III are the primary interfaces for peripherals.

Supported Memory: DDR4 and DDR3L

The processor works with DDR4-2133 MHz and DDR3L-1600 MHz (1.35V).

Recommendations:

- DDR4 Preferred: Higher speed and energy efficiency (e.g., Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB, $45).

- Dual-Channel Mode: Installing two modules (2x8GB) will improve performance by 15–20%.

- Maximum Capacity: 64GB, but for office tasks, 8–16GB is sufficient.

Limitations:

- Motherboards with DDR3L are rare and often limited to budget models.

Power Supplies: Power Calculation

With a TDP of 35W, the i5-6400T does not require a powerful PSU, but choices depend on other components.

Scenarios:

- Without a discrete graphics card: A 300W PSU is sufficient (e.g., be quiet! SFX Power 3, $50).

- With a GTX 1650 level graphics card: A 450W PSU is recommended (Corsair CX450, $60).

- For future upgrades: A 500–600W PSU with an 80+ Bronze rating (Seasonic S12III 500, $65).

Tip: Avoid cheap noname PSUs — they can be unstable even under low load.

Pros and Cons of i5-6400T in 2025

Advantages:

1. Energy Efficiency: Ideal for mini-PCs and passive cooling systems.

2. Integrated Graphics: HD 530 handles 4K video and light gaming (e.g., Minecraft).

3. Low Second-Hand Market Price: Approximately $30–40 (used).

Disadvantages:

1. No Hyper-Threading: 4 threads compared to 8 in modern i3 processors.

2. Outdated Architecture: Lags behind Ryzen 3 in multi-threaded tasks.

3. Limited Overclocking: Multiplier support is not available (only BCLK on Z chipsets).

Use Cases

1. Office Tasks and Web Browsing

- Example: Build based on i5-6400T, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD.

- Pros: Fast OS boot-up, document handling, and browser (10+ tabs) performance.

2. Multimedia Center

- Example: Connect to TV via HDMI 1.4, stream 4K (Netflix, YouTube).

- Limitation: No HDMI 2.1 support for 4K@120Hz.

3. Light Gaming

- 2025 Games on Low Settings:

- CS:GO — 60–70 FPS (720p).

- GTA V — 30–40 FPS (1080p, minimal settings).

- Tip: Adding a GTX 1650 will triple the FPS.

4. Server Tasks

- Home NAS: Low power consumption and virtualization support (VT-x).

Comparison with Competitors

1. AMD Ryzen 3 2200G (2018)

- Ryzen Pros: 4 threads, Vega 8 graphics (30% faster than HD 530).

- Cons: TDP 65W, higher price ($60 used).

2. Intel Core i3-10100 (2020)

- i3 Pros: 8 threads, supports DDR4-2666.

- Cons: Price $90 (used), requires LGA 1200.

Conclusion: The i5-6400T is only advantageous when on a strict budget or for replacing older systems.

Practical Building Tips

1. Choosing a Motherboard: Look for models with USB 3.1 and M.2 (e.g., ASUS Z170-A).

2. Cooling: Even the stock cooler is sufficient — the processor hardly heats up.

3. SSD is Essential: Kingston A400 480GB ($35) will eliminate system "lags."

4. Upgrade: Adding a graphics card (GTX 1650 or RX 6400) will turn the PC into a gaming system.

Final Conclusion: Who Should Consider i5-6400T in 2025?

This processor is worth considering:

- Budget Build Enthusiasts: For experiments or refurbishing an old PC.

- Business Owners: Office computers with low power consumption.

- Retro Gaming Enthusiasts: For running projects from the 2000s-2010s.

Alternative: If budget allows, it’s better to get the Ryzen 3 8300G ($120 new) — it stays relevant longer.

Note: Prices are shown for new components (where available) as of April 2025. The i5-6400T is not sold new, but can be found on the second-hand market.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

July 2015

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.

i5-6400T

Code Name

SkyLake

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.

Basic Frequency

2.20 GHz

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.

2.80 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

2.80 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.

CPU Socket

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

FCLGA1151

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.

14 nm

TDP

35 W

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.

3.0

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 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

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.

DDR4-1866/2133 | DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V

Max Memory Size

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

64 GB

Memory Channels

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

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

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).

34.1 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.

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® HD Graphics 530

Graphics Base Frequency

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

350 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.

950 MHz

Graphics Video Max Memory

64 GB

4K Support

Yes | at 60Hz

DirectX Support

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

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.

4096x2304@24Hz

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.

4096x2304@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.

4096x2304@60Hz

Max Resolution (VGA)

N/A

Number of Displays Supported

Graphics Output

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

eDP/DP/HDMI/DVI

Miscellaneous

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.

6 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 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 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 Clear Video Technology

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 InTru 3D Technology

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

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

913

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

2494

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

733

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

2340

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

1639

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

4276

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Xeon E-2276ME

1011 +10.7%

Core i3-4160T

961 +5.3%

Core i5-6400T

913

Core m3-7Y32

872 -4.5%

Ryzen 5 2500U

808 -11.5%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon D-1548

3012 +20.8%

Xeon X5650

2768 +11%

Core i5-6400T

2494

Core i7-4820K

2287 -8.3%

Core i7-6650U

2064 -17.2%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen 5 3400GE

769 +4.9%

Pentium G3460

745 +1.6%

Core i5-6400T

733

Xeon E5-2699 v4

711 -3%

Xeon Platinum 8153

688 -6.1%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon W-2102

2622 +12.1%

Xeon D-1528

2494 +6.6%

Core i5-6400T

2340

Xeon E3-1260L

2162 -7.6%

Core i3-6320

2021 -13.6%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Athlon Gold 3150C

1706 +4.1%

Core i3-3250T

1684 +2.7%

Core i5-6400T

1639

Xeon W3690

1615 -1.5%

Xeon Silver 4110

1579 -3.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i7-3635QM

4726 +10.5%

Core i5-3450

4493 +5.1%

Core i5-6400T

4276

Athlon PRO 300U Mobile with Radeon Vega 3 Graphics

4080 -4.6%

Ryzen 3 3200U

3827 -10.5%