We’re not going to fool you: a high-end processor will give better performance than a mid-range processor, as is the case with the processor we are going to talk about today. However, and more so when it comes to PC gaming, it is the mid-range and high-mid-range processors that take the lead because even though they have lower performance (although it is true that sometimes no big difference), its price-performance ratio it is so much better.
Technical specifications of the Intel Core i5-11400 processor
| Intel Core i5-11400 | |
|---|---|
| Architecture | Rocket lake |
| Segment | office |
| Socket | LGA1200 |
| the | 11.5 x 24.0 mm |
| Cores | 6 |
| Son | 12 |
| Hidden L1 | 64K per core |
| Hidden L2 | 256K per core |
| Hidden L3 | 12 MB shared |
| Base frequency | 2.6 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.4 GHz |
| TDP | 65 W |
| Lithography | 12 nm |
| Maximum temperature | 100 ºC |
| Memoria RAM | Up to 128 GB DDR4-3200 |
| Memory configuration | Dual channel |
| PCIe | 4.0 |
| Integrated graphics | Intel UHD Graphiucs 730 |
| IGPU frequency | 1300 MHz |
| Launch | Q1 2021 |
| Overclock | No |
We are faced with a processor that even belongs to the midrange like a good Core i5 that it is, provides 6 physical cores and 12 processing threads thanks to the brand’s Hyper-Threading technology which operates at a base frequency of 2.6 GHz but which reaches 4.4 GHz. solo 65 watts TDP, which means that we will have the advantage of no need for a monster heatsink to keep the CPU at a good operating temperature.
In this 11th generation, Intel has improved the cache memory of the entire line of processors, now with a greater amount both per core and in terms of L3 cache shared by all, resulting in much better performance in the immediate calculations. Although it has always been one of the strengths of Intel platforms, the RAM memory controller, now compatible with up to 128 GB DDR4 at 3200 MHz natively.
Of course, this Core i5-11400 is also compatible with the new interface PCI-Express 4.0, which means that even being a midrange processor we can use the new NVMe SSDs which deliver speeds of up to 7000MB / s, ensuring the best storage performance. In addition, and contrary to what happened in some previous generations, we can have both a GPU and a PCIe 4.0 SSD under the same bus connected directly to the CPU and without penalties, which gives us the full potential of the interface.
How could it be otherwise, to make this processor work we will need a platform with an LGA1200 socket, and like the rest of the processors of this generation, it has technologies such as Intel DL Boost, Turbo Boost 2.0, HyperThreading, VT-d, VT -x, SpeedStep, AES, OS Guard and Boot Guard among others. Its recommended retail price is $ 184, a fact that also puts it in competition in the mid-range of current-generation processors and, in fact, makes it a pretty good bet for all types of PCs (not just PC games).
Do you need an Intel Core i7 or better to be able to play to the fullest?
No, and traditionally it has never been like this. It’s true that a more powerful processor with more threads (especially now that game programming is already taking advantage of multi-threaded processors) is going to give you gaming performance benefits, but as we said at the start , the reality is that these types of processors are aimed more at enthusiasts than the average user, who is more looking for a good relationship between performance and price than pure performance.
Therefore, options like the Core i5-11400 that we are talking about today seem ideal, because in this case we are faced with a processor with 12 threads at 4.4 GHz which offers remarkable performance in any new game. generation and whose shortcomings, how to be the opportunity to do overclock, they fall back into the realm of the enthusiast and not the average user.
And it is that in the end, with the multi-threaded programming of current games, they depend much more on the performance of the graphics card and the RAM memory than on the processor itself, because really with 12 threads at 4.4 GHz and Intel have made improvements to the architecture of this 11th generation, the days when the bottleneck in gaming is long overdue.
Recall that the Core i5-11400 has an average performance improvement of 15% compared to the Core i5-10400 of the previous generation, and that says a lot about the architectural improvements that Intel has made, even if it retains 14 nm lithography.
Affordable processor doesn’t mean skimping on performance
As we told you in this article, to really build a reasonably good gaming PC, you don’t need to invest in a high-end processor; Obviously, the better the processor, the better the performance you will have in games, but the improvement is not so noticeable as investing double or triple in a processor to gain less than ten FPS, no?
The Intel Core i5-11400 is priced around $ 185 in stores, and for that price it outperforms the competition by a lot, so of course our recommendation is that if you are looking to put together a good gaming PC. quality with excellent performance to play all the latest titles, this processor is an optimal starting point.
In the past, many users have gone to compete for just being able to benefit from PCIe 4.0 storage, but with the 11th generation of Intel processors, that advantage is over and at the same price, the difference in performance is what makes it. tilt the scale.
