The Intel Core i3-12100F is the objective winner of this comparison, securing more wins across the evaluated specifications. Its most impactful advantage is the L2 cache, which is 67% better than that of the alternative. While the Intel Core i5-11400F holds a significant lead in total core count, offering 50% more cores, the superior cache capacity of the i3-12100F allows it to outperform the i5-11400F across the majority of the measured technical categories.

Choose the Intel Core i3-12100F if your primary goal is to leverage the higher L2 cache capacity for improved efficiency in supported tasks. Conversely, select the Intel Core i5-11400F if your specific workload requires a higher total core count. By prioritizing either the cache advantage of the i3-12100F or the core count advantage of the i5-11400F, you can align your purchase with the specific technical strengths provided by each processor.