Intel's i5 12500 is a weird processor. It is around $40 more expensive than the i5 12400(F) for slightly higher clocks and a better iGPU that most gamers will not care about - which is the thing Alder Lake focuses most on from what we've seen. It is not good value. This does not mean it is a bad CPU, it is still very capable of gaming and could be more capable in workstation and desktop use thanks to the improved iGPU. I do not believe it deserves a $40 tax for those situations though. [Apr '22Waaaaaal]
From the point of view of a consumer that typically uses a PC for surfing the web, checking email, listening to music and watching videos, I consider that the Haswell i3 processors currently represent the best value for money. The i3-4130 has a performance profile that is just 7% below the top nine group leader average yet it only costs half as much. Power users that play intensive 3d games or run video editing, graphics design or CAD packages will benefit from more than two cores and will do well to look elsewhere but for regular users overall responsiveness will remain largely unchanged regardless of how much more is spent on the CPU. (My new value pick is the G3420 which supersedes my recommendation of the i3-4130.) [Sep '13CPUPro]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.