Intel Core i5-12600K vs Intel Core i7-6700HQ

Last updated: 2024-04-16

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-12600K		Intel Core i7-6700HQ
CPU comparison Intel Core i5-12600K or Intel Core i7-6700HQ - 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 i5-12600K has 10 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.90 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-12600K was released in Q4/2021. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to 64 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ was released in Q3/2015.

Intel Core i5 (331)	Family	Intel Core i7 (298)
Intel Core i 12000 (34)	CPU group	Intel Core i 6000H (15)
12	Generation	6
Alder Lake S	Architecture	Skylake H
Desktop / Server	Segment	Mobile
Intel Core i5-11600K	Predecessor	Intel Core i7-5700HQ
Intel Core i5-13600K	Successor	Intel Core i7-7700HQ

CPU Cores and Base Frequency The Intel Core i5-12600K is a 10 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz). The Intel Core i7-6700HQ has 4 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.60 GHz (3.50 GHz).
Intel Core i5-12600K	Characteristic	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
10	Cores	4
16	Threads	8
hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Core architecture	normal
Yes	Hyperthreading	Yes
Yes	Overclocking ?	No
3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) 6x Golden Cove	A-Core	2.60 GHz (3.50 GHz)
2.80 GHz (3.60 GHz) 4x Gracemont	B-Core	--
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 i5-12600K	Characteristic	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
--	AI hardware	--
--	AI specifications	--

Internal Graphics The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.
Intel UHD Graphics 770	GPU	Intel HD Graphics 530
0.30 GHz	GPU frequency	0.35 GHz
1.45 GHz	GPU (Turbo)	1.05 GHz
11	GPU Generation	9
10 nm	Technology	14 nm
3	Max. displays	3
32	Compute units	24
256	Shader	192
No	Hardware Raytracing	No
No	Frame Generation	No
64 GB	Max. GPU Memory	32 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 770	GPU	Intel HD Graphics 530
Decode / Encode	Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode	Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	Decode
Decode / Encode	Codec h264	Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode	Codec VP9	Decode
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 i5-12600K supports a maximum of 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-6700HQ can connect up to 64 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.
Intel Core i5-12600K	Characteristic	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200	Memory	LPDDR3-1866, DDR4-2133
128 GB	Max. Memory	64 GB
2 (Dual Channel)	Memory channels	2 (Dual Channel)
76.8 GB/s	Max. Bandwidth	34.1 GB/s
Yes	ECC	No
9.50 MB	L2 Cache	--
20.00 MB	L3 Cache	6.00 MB
5.0	PCIe version	3.0
20	PCIe lanes	20
78.8 GB/s	PCIe Bandwidth	19.7 GB/s
Thermal Management The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core i5-12600K has a TDP of 125 W, that of the Intel Core i7-6700HQ is 45 W.
Intel Core i5-12600K	Characteristic	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
125 W	TDP (PL1 / PBP)	45 W
150 W	TDP (PL2)	--
--	TDP up	--
--	TDP down	--
100 °C	Tjunction max.	--
Technical details The Intel Core i5-12600K has a 29.50 MB cache, while the Intel Core i7-6700HQ cache has a total of 6.00 MB.
Intel Core i5-12600K	Characteristic	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
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	BGA 1440
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, Linux
Q4/2021	Release date	Q3/2015
289 $	Release price	--

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Intel Core i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save! Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 2.60 GHz (3.50 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 5 CPU benchmarks

Intel Core i5-12600K (100%)

Intel Core i7-6700HQ (46%)

⌀ Multi core performance in 7 CPU benchmarks

Intel Core i5-12600K (100%)

Intel Core i7-6700HQ (27%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	1918 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	896 (47%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	17660 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	4193 (24%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	1854 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	806 (43%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	11912 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	3079 (26%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	2472 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	1128 (46%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	11991 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	3894 (32%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	6702 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	1651 (25%)

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 i5-12600K Intel UHD Graphics 770 @ 1.45 GHz	742 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ Intel HD Graphics 530 @ 1.05 GHz	403 (54%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	27830 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	6520 (23%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	766 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	325 (42%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz	5540 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 2.60 GHz	1725 (31%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	274 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	148 (54%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	2596 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	692 (27%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	105 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	909 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz	741 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.50 GHz	0 (0%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	249 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	0 (0%)

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 i5-12600K 10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz	0 (0%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz	540.3 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.


	Intel Core i5-12600K 17,660 CB R23 MC @ 115 W	154 (100%)
	Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.60 GHz	0 (0%)

Devices using this processor
Intel Core i5-12600K	Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Unknown	Unknown

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