i3-9100F vs i5-9400F

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i5-9400F
2019
6 cores / 6 threads, 65 Watt
5.96
+40.6%
Core i3-9100F
2019
4 cores / 4 threads, 65 Watt
4.24

Core i5-9400F outperforms Core i3-9100F by a considerable 41% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking11081384
Place by popularity2437
Cost-effectiveness evaluation9.4110.25
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i5Intel Core i3
Power efficiency8.686.17
Architecture codenameCoffee Lake-R (2018−2019)Coffee Lake-R (2018−2019)
Release date7 January 2019 (5 years ago)23 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$182$122

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i3-9100F has 9% better value for money than i5-9400F.

Detailed specifications

Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores6 (Hexa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads64
Base clock speed2.9 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed4.1 GHz4.2 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0DMI 3.0
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier2936
L1 cache385 KB256 KB
L2 cache1.5 MB1 MB
L3 cache9 MB (shared)6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm14 nm
Die size149 mm2126 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °C72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++

Compatibility

Information on Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA1151
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology--
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++

Security technologies

Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT--
EDB++
Secure Key++
MPX++
Identity Protection++
SGXYes with Intel® MEYes with Intel® ME
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F are enumerated here.

AMD-V-+
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4-2666DDR4
Maximum memory size128 GB64 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth42.671 GB/s38.397 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes1616

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i5-9400F 5.96
+40.6%
i3-9100F 4.24

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i5-9400F 9468
+40.6%
i3-9100F 6735

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i5-9400F 1404
+0.4%
i3-9100F 1398

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i5-9400F 4908
+31.4%
i3-9100F 3736

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i5-9400F 6490
i3-9100F 6509
+0.3%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i5-9400F 31523
+74%
i3-9100F 18118

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i5-9400F 6.76
+74.7%
i3-9100F 11.81

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i5-9400F 11
+109%
i3-9100F 5

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i5-9400F 984
+55.2%
i3-9100F 634

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i5-9400F 173
+1.2%
i3-9100F 171

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i5-9400F 1.95
i3-9100F 1.95

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i5-9400F 5.2
+73.3%
i3-9100F 3

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i5-9400F 5794
+43%
i3-9100F 4052

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i5-9400F 64
+44.3%
i3-9100F 44

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i5-9400F 234
+7.3%
i3-9100F 218

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i5-9400F 5715
+40.3%
i3-9100F 4074

Blender(-)

i5-9400F 469
i3-9100F 687
+46.6%

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i5-9400F 1139
i3-9100F 1152
+1.1%

7-Zip Single

i5-9400F 4678
i3-9100F 4682
+0.1%

7-Zip

i5-9400F 25639
+49.5%
i3-9100F 17150

WebXPRT 3

i5-9400F 211
+3.4%
i3-9100F 204

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.96 4.24
Recency 7 January 2019 23 April 2019
Physical cores 6 4
Threads 6 4

i5-9400F has a 40.6% higher aggregate performance score, and 50% more physical cores and 50% more threads.

i3-9100F, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 months.

The Core i5-9400F is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-9100F in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i5-9400F and Core i3-9100F, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i5-9400F
Core i5-9400F
Intel Core i3-9100F
Core i3-9100F

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


4.9 56769 votes

Rate Core i5-9400F on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.2 7067 votes

Rate Core i3-9100F on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i5-9400F or Core i3-9100F, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.