The i5-6400 was released toward the end of last year and sits neatly in the mid range of Intel’s desktop processor series.
It's based on the Skylake architecture, so this particular 64-bit chip uses a 14nm manufacturing process, together with other such features as 6MB of L3 SmartCache, 1MB of L2 cache, support for DDR4 1866/2133 memory and an integrated Intel HD 530 GPU, which runs at a base frequency of 350MHz and a boost frequency of 950MHz.
It’s a four-core processor with a base frequency of 2.7GHz and a maximum turbo frequency of 3.3GHz. While 2.7GHz may not seem much by today’s standards, it’s generally more than capable of delivering a decent amount of punch. The 3.3GHz boost is only for two of the cores but can still offer a reasonable burst of speed when needed.
Although this particular processor sits in the middle of the Intel desktop range, it’s actually the entry point for the i5-series. The price of around £150 is very reasonable, and Intel has managed to pitch the i5 technology at such a low price by dropping the base clock speeds and, of course, by limiting the unlocking. As with most processors, though, given the right motherboard and BIOS, there’s a good chance you can squeeze a few more megahertz out of it.
Power consumption is good too, rated at 64W, which is about average for most of Intel’s Skylake i5 processors, aside from the i5-6600K, which tops the scales at 91W.
Graphically, the HD 530 GPU isn’t going to set the gaming world on fire, but there’s support for DirectX 12, at least. Furthermore, the GPU can support 4K at 60Hz, Intel Wireless Display technology and up to three monitors. While it’s not really a gaming-level GPU (which integrated GPUs are?), it’s more than adequate as a media centre processor.
Using the PassMark version 8.0 benchmark, we saw a CPU mark of 6,580 and a single thread score of 1,860. According to comparative research taken by PassMark, this puts the i5-6400 at a point just above an AMD FX-6300 six-core processor and a couple of points below an AMD FX-8350 eight-core CPU.
The Cinebench R15 singlecore score was 142, while the multi-core score was a reasonable 499. Again it’s not the fastest processor in the world, but it’s more than enough for 99% of the duties most folk will expect from their PC. Couple it with a good dedicated graphics card, and it will make for a worthwhile and reasonably priced gaming PC.
Basically, the Intel Core i5-6400 is a good start to Intel’s sixth-gen CPUs. It’s well priced, performs within adequate benchmark scores, and you won’t need expensive components to build up around it for an effective system.