Is Intel Core I5 8400 Still Good? CPU Revisit
Introduction
When people are discussing Intel i5 processors you will often hear about Intel Core i5 8400. Although it has been almost 5 years since its release, this processor is often talked about.
Back in the day, Intel knew how to surprise us with good Processors that are actually worth the money.
I will test this 6 cores processor today and try to answer the most asked questions. Keep reading!
Intel Core I5 8400 Specifications
Take a look at the Intel Core I5 8400 Specifications below.
| Number of Cores | |
| Number of Threads | |
| Base Frequency | |
| Boost Frequency | |
| Process Size | |
| TDP | |
| Socket |
Best Intel I5 8400 Offer At The Moment
What Should You Expect From I5 8400 In 2022?
Although the Intel i5 8400 is almost 5 years old, it will still perform well in almost every task you try to do. With 6 cores and 6 threads, this CPU isn’t outdated yet. Pair it with a good Graphics card and fast RAM and you will have a good build that is capable of running any game and program.
How Good Is Intel I5 8400 For Gaming?
Intel Core I5 8400 is still capable of gaming in almost every resolution. Since 4k and 2k are more GPU-based, you can easily run any game in these two resolutions if you pair this processor with a stronger GPU. In 1080p you will need to adjust your settings in order to get the highest possible fps.
Since gaming is probably the most important category for most users and everyone that is reading this post wants to know how good is Intel Core I5 8400 for gaming, I will test it in both 1080p and 1440p resolutions.
I will also try to compare the Intel i5 8400 with AMD Ryzen 5 2600 since they are about the same age and performance.
I’m not testing Intel i5 8400 in 4k because there is no point in that. Your results in 4k will mainly depend on the graphics card and not on the CPU.
Let’s jump into some gaming.
How Good Is Intel I5 8400 For Gaming In 1080p
The 1080p resolution is probably the most important when testing processors. Although GPU is doing its job, playing in 1080p will stress enough you CPU so you will see how well it can really perform
In this test, I will pair Intel i5 8400 with Nvidia RTX 3070 and benchmark them together in 5 different games.
I will run these 5 games on increased graphics details, which maybe isn’t the best for CPU test but it will do the work just fine.
As you can see in the table below, every game that I tested averaged 60 fps except Cyberpunk, which is well known for bad optimization. Have in mind that Cyberpunk was on Ultra settings, so if I decreased to High or Normal fps would be much higher.
In the other 4 games, I experienced pretty smooth gameplay and at the same time, the game looked beautiful.
To not waste your time anymore, you should take a look at the table yourself.
| specs:I5 8400, RTX 3070, 16Gb 3200 MHz ddr4, 1TB SSD | AVERAGE FPS | 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|
| Metro Exodus (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 114 fps | 83 fps |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (High and Ultra settings - 1080p) | 51 fps | 40 fps |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 69 fps | 44 fps |
| Resident Evil Village (Max settings - 1080p) | 86 fps | 61 fps |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Max settings - 1080p) | 70 fps | 54 fps |
How Good Is Intel I5 8400 For Gaming In 1440p?
Since in the 1080p test almost every game averaged more than 60 fps even on max settings, It would be a shame to waste all those frames considering that majority of people have 60 HZ monitors.
For the 1440p benchmark, I will pair Intel Core I5 8400 with Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti.
As you can see in the table below, the Intel i5 8400 did a really well job in every game. Although in 1440p a GPU is important a little more than the CPU, it’s still important that your processor gives your graphics card good support.
In PUBG and Forza Horizon 4, these two performed the best and averaged more than 100 fps even on Ultra settings in 1440p.
The lowest fps was in AC Odyssey, but that is expected since that is the hardest game to run from all 5 of them.
Take a look at the table yourself.
| specs:I5 8400, RTX 2080 Ti, 16Gb 3200 MHz ddr4, 1TB SSD | AVERAGE FPS | 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|
| PUBG (Ultra Settings - 1440p) | 116 fps | 65 fps |
| Far Cry 5 (Ultra Settings - 1440p) | 87 fps | 71 fps |
| Forza Horizon 4 (Ultra Settings - 1440p) | 101 fps | 78 fps |
| Battlefield 5 (Ultra Settings - 1440p) | 93 fps | 67 fps |
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Very High Settings - 1440p) | 65 fps | 54 fps |
Intel i5 8400 vs Ryzen 5 2600
As I said, I wanted to compare Intel Core I5 8400 to its AMD rival.
Although Ryzen 5 2600 is a little bit newer since it has been released in 2018, the Intel i5 8400 is still a better processor overall.
Ryzen 5 2600 has 6 more threads than I5 8400, but we will see does that increases its performance that much.
This time, I wanted to use some budget option GPU for the benchmark, for all people that would use something similar since the GPU market is expensive at the moment.
The graphics card that I used is AMD RX 580 4GB. This GPU is also very good for its age and you will see that in the tests that I have done with these 2 processors in 1080p resolution.
Although I played these 5 games below on Low graphics preset, they were still looking good and the gameplay was smooth and playable.
Every game averaged more than 60 fps, which is most important when playing with this graphics card.
You can see that Intel I5 8400 performed better in every game that I tested. As expected, I5 8400 had from 5 to 10 more fps on average than Ryzen 5 2600.
Let’s cut the story, you should take a look at the table yourself.
| specs:I5 8400/Ryzen 5 2600, RX 580 4GB, 16Gb 3200 MHz ddr4, 1TB SSD | Intel i5 8400 - AVERAGE FPS | Intel i5 8400 - 1% LOW FPS | Ryzen 5 2600 - AVERAGE FPS | Ryzen 5 2600 - 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Low settings - 1080p) | 74 fps | 56 fps | 69 fps | 53 fps |
| Watch Dogs: Legion (Low & Medium settings - 1080p) | 73 fps | 51 fps | 71 fps | 54 fps |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Low settings - 1080p) | 98 fps | 65 fps | 84 fps | 61 fps |
| Mafia Definitive Edition (Low settings - 1080p) | 81 fps | 55 fps | 74 fps | 49 fps |
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Low & Medium settings - 1080p) | 70 fps | 56 fps | 65 fps | 52 fps |
Is Intel I5 8400 Future-Proof?
Although Intel Core I5 8400 is an older processor, It will still do a very good job for most casual users. It has 6 cores and 6 threads, so if we look at the newer processors, the Intel i5 8400 is not that outdated. You can probably use this CPU for at least 2-3 years before it’s time for an upgrade
How Good Is Intel I5 8400 For Video Editing And Streaming?
Intel I5 8400 is still capable of most tasks even 5 years after its release. Video editing and Streaming shouldn’t be a problem either if you know the limits of this CPU. Pair it with a decent GPU and Fast RAM and your programs will work well. Have in mind that there are much better options nowadays
