The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is the objective winner of this comparison, securing more individual specification victories across the evaluated fields. Its most significant technical advantage is a base clock speed that is 44% higher than that of its competitor. While the Intel Core i5-12400F holds its own in several categories and maintains a notable lead in cache architecture, the Ryzen 5 5500 provides a superior foundation based on the total count of winning specifications.

Users prioritizing a higher base clock speed should select the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 for their build. Conversely, those who require a substantial increase in memory efficiency should opt for the Intel Core i5-12400F, which offers an L2 cache that is 150% larger. Choosing between these two processors depends entirely on whether your specific computing needs favor the raw frequency advantage of the Ryzen or the cache-heavy architecture provided by the Intel alternative.