Intel Core i3-12100 vs Intel Core i7-8700

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i3-12100 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-8700
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i7-8700

CPU comparison

Intel Core i3-12100 or Intel Core i7-8700 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core i3-12100 has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.30 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-12100 was released in Q1/2022.

The Intel Core i7-8700 has 6 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.60 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-8700 was released in Q4/2017.
Intel Core i3 (202) Family Intel Core i7 (293)
Intel Core i 12000 (34) CPU group Intel Core i 8000 (20)
12 Generation 8
Alder Lake S Architecture Coffee Lake S
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
Intel Core i3-11100B Predecessor Intel Core i7-7700
Intel Core i3-13100 Successor Intel Core i7-9700

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i3-12100 has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-12100 is 3.30 GHz (4.30 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-8700 has 6 CPU cores and 12 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-8700 is at 3.20 GHz (4.60 GHz).

Intel Core i3-12100 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8700
4 Cores 6
8 Threads 12
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
3.30 GHz Frequency 3.20 GHz
4.30 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 4.60 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 4.30 GHz

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Intel Core i3-12100 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8700
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i3-12100 or Intel Core i7-8700 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

Intel UHD Graphics 730 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.35 GHz
1.40 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.15 GHz
12 GPU Generation 9.5
14 nm Technology 14 nm
3 Max. displays 3
24 Compute units 24
192 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
64 GB Max. GPU Memory 64 GB
12 DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Intel UHD Graphics 730 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i3-12100 can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 76.8 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-8700 supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 42.7 GB/s.

Intel Core i3-12100 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8700
DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 Memory DDR4-2666
128 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
76.8 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 42.7 GB/s
No ECC No
5.00 MB L2 Cache --
12.00 MB L3 Cache 12.00 MB
5.0 PCIe version 3.0
20 PCIe lanes 16
78.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i3-12100 is 60 W, while the Intel Core i7-8700 has a TDP of 65 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i3-12100 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8700
60 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 65 W
89 W TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i3-12100 is manufactured in 10 nm and has 17.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-8700 is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 12.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i3-12100 Characteristic Intel Core i7-8700
10 nm Technology 14 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
LGA 1700 Socket LGA 1151-2
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q1/2022 Release date Q4/2017
122 $ Release price 340 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i3-12100 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.5 stars (8 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 6 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 7 CPU benchmarks

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
86 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
69 (80%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
401 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
365 (91%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
1658 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
1146 (69%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
8443 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
7969 (94%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
1716 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
1172 (68%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
6422 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
5891 (92%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
2157 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
1459 (68%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
7428 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
6027 (81%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
642 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
481 (75%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
3204 (90%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
3547 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
Intel UHD Graphics 730 @ 1.40 GHz
538 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
Intel UHD Graphics 630 @ 1.15 GHz
442 (82%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
13880 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
12958 (93%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
242 (100%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.60 GHz
203 (84%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1204 (84%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
1434 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
118 (100%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
231.5 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 4.30 GHz
488 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i3-12100
4C 8T @ 3.30 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-8700 Intel Core i7-8700
6C 12T @ 3.20 GHz
3674 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i3-12100 Intel Core i7-8700
Unknown Unknown

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