Intel Core i5-11400 Review

The Core i5-11400 is one of Intel's mid-range Desktop processors. It was released in 2021 with 6 cores and 12 threads. With base clock at 2.8GHz, max speed at 4.2GHz, and a 65W power rating. The Core i5-11400 is based on the Rocket Lake 14nm family and is part of the Core i5 series.

Core i5-11400 is also the successor of Intel's last gen Core i5-10400 processor that was based on the Comet Lake and 14nm process and was released in 2020.

In our mind, the best processors are the ones that deliver outstanding performance at a reasonable price point. And, the Core i5-11400 absolutely nails this concept.

Speaking of which, if you want a high-end desktop (HEDT) 8-core processor that can compete with the Intel Core i5-11400, you’re going to have to drop quite a bit more cash and get something like the $399 AMD Ryzen 7 5800X. And, even if you do go with this AMD chip, you won’t necessarily end up with the same level of performance.

The Intel Core i5-11400 has a 65W TDP, and with that fairly low amount of power, it's able to deliver quite a lot. This processor can keep up with even the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, a processor that considerably costs more and consumes more power, with its TDP of 105W.

What this all means is that the Intel Core i5-11400 is an absolute beast when it comes to multi-threaded workloads, especially at this price point. If you're counting on doing some video editing or compiling one hell of an Excel spreadsheet, you're going to see firsthand a performance boost with the Core i5-11400.

One of the nice things about the Intel Core i5-11400 processors is that the retail boxed models come with a CPU cooler. So, you can pick something like the Intel Core i5-11400 up for $182 and don’t need to spend any extra money on CPU cooling.

The Intel Core i5-11400 retail boxed processor comes with the traditional ‘pancake’ CPU cooler. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done on this processor which is rated at 65W TDP. You do not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution unless you want to.

For a 6-core processor, Intel’s $182 flagship Core i5-11400 processor seems downright cheap. On paper, the cost of those 0 extra cores is almost an afterthought when you stack it up against its direct competitor, the $299 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.

That said, Intel still lags behind in frequency when the Ryzen 7 5800X operates at 4GHz at any given moment and 4.8GHz when push comes to shove.

With Core i5, Intel continues to innovate on its new architecture and 14nm process. Like Core i5, Intel has engineered Core i5 to operate on a LGA 1200 chipset with all the modern amenities of computing. This includes support for DDR4 RAM, the fastest NVMe SSDs and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Now the biggest question is can Intel’s Core i5 processor play games? The answer is simply yes as it got a respectable gaming score of 88% in our benchmarks.

Regardless of those external factors, the Core i5-11400 proves it has the chops to be your main gaming system and a just as effective media creation platform – two things that are becoming intrinsically connected in this age of live-streaming, eSports and uploading gameplay videos.

If you’ve been looking for an affordable, powerhouse CPU that both works and parties hard, this is it.