Intel Pentium Gold G6500 vs Intel Core i5-6400

Processor comparisons   17-03-2021
   For example you have difficulties with the choice of a processor, you will solve them by reading the detailed tests Intel Pentium Gold G6500 vs Intel Core i5-6400 and see which is better for games or simple use for rendering, programming, machine learning, streaming, video editing. Here is all information from different benchmarks or real streaming and video editing tests. A thorough analysis of all the technical characteristics, to make it easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in software tests such as Furmark, Handbrake, 7zip, Gears 5, GeekBench 6, 5.2, RealBench, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Dolphin Emulator, 3DMark, PCMark 10, Prime95, UserBenchmark, SuperPi, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), WPrime, Blender, PassMark, VeraCrypt, AIDA64, Blender, DaVinci Resolve Studio, MATLAB.
   Gaming performance of processors in:

Death Stranding
Borderlands 3
Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare
Apex Legends
Last Man Standing
Valheim
Fortnite
Grand Theft Auto V
Rainbow Six Siege
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
DOOM: Eternal
Valorant
Watch Dogs Legion
Overwatch
Fallout 76
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Cyberpunk 2077
Red Dead Redemption 2
Halo Infinite

After looking at the data of all benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which processor is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i5-6400 or Intel Pentium Gold G6500.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Pentium Gold G6500

51%

Core i5-6400

51%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Pentium Gold G6500

51%

Core i5-6400

51%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because the cost of this processor reaches several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a little game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the summary table below.
List of other games in which CPU comparisons were performed: DOTA 2A, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Horizon Zero Dawn, Control, Metro Exodus, NBA 2K20, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Ghostrunner, Hitman 3, League of Legends (LOL), Monster Hunter World, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Forza Horizon 4, Half-Life: Alyx, Battlefield V, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	90.3	91.3
Valorant	102.6	103.7
Cyberpunk 2077	57.5	58.1
Apex Legends	96.5	97.5
Call of Duty Warzone	77.0	77.8
Overwatch	83.1	84.0
Red Dead Redemption 2	70.8	71.6
DOOM Eternal	51.3	51.9
Warzone	80.1	80.9
Assassin's Creed	86.2	87.1
Valheim	85.2	86.1

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The computers participating in the comparisons not only were the equipped with different amounts of RAM and different video cards. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, FullHD or 4K. So the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. You will get more accurate information about how powerful the processor will be in games, if you compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Pentium Gold G6500

59%

Core i5-6400

49%

To make a finishing resolution on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. The newer the processor generation, the better its performance in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Pentium Gold G6500 is more energy efficient than the Core i5-6400 as it consumes less power: 58W vs. 65W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, it will be useful to know its TDP. You need to buy a cooler that has the TDP data specified in the specification was greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for programming, video rendering or video editing, machine learning, streaming, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the processor turns on all cores and threads that it has to the maximum to achieve maximum performance. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before you take into account the data from these tests, be sure to make sure that the program that you are going to use on your computer can work in multi-threaded mode. Since there are still many programs that use only one core to work, and all the advantages of multi-core mode are unused.
Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	Intel Pentium Gold G6500	Intel Core i5-6400
Cinbench 15 Single-core	171	140
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	427	497
Cinbench 20 Single-core	424	275
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	964	1061
Cinbench 23 Single-core	628	1001
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	2125	3997

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	Intel Pentium Gold G6500	Intel Core i5-6400
Single-Core	2592	1957
Multi-Core	4200	5167

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	Intel Pentium Gold G6500	Intel Core i5-6400
Single-Core	1030	959
Multi-Core	2280	3221

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most helpful will be the the possibility of overclocking it and release date of the processor. The newer the processor, the longer it will last you. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same benefits from the presence of overclocking. When the processor can be overclocked, thereby increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS even in the newest games. The savings are obvious! It turns out that you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer.

	Intel Pentium Gold G6500	Intel Core i5-6400
Announcement date	October 01, 2020	April 01, 2015
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Socket	FCLGA1200	LGA 1151
Core name	Comet Lake	Skylake
Architecture	x86	x86
Generation	10	6
Turbo Frequency		3.3 MHz
Frequency	4.1 MHz	2.7 MHz
Cores	2	4
Threads	4	4
Bus rate	8 GT/s	8 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	14 nm	14 nm
Transistors count	2460 millions	2460 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	58 W	65 W
Memory type	DDR4-2666	DDR4-1866/2133, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V
Max. Memory	128 Gb	64 Gb
Memory Frequency
Memory bandwidth	41.6 GB/s	34.1 GB/s
L1 cache
L2 cache
L3 cache	4 MB	6 MB
Overclocking	No	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Pentium Gold G6500 is 34% better than Core i5-6400 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Core i5-6400 has 2 more core than Pentium Gold G6500. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which Intel Pentium Gold G6500 is better: 10
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i5-6400 is better: 21
Although it should be realized that the summary data in the table above do not mean that taking them into account you should completely trust a simple quantitative comparison. Be sure to watch the testing video and read the reviews of real owners of Intel Pentium Gold G6500 and Intel Core i5-6400 before making a choice which processor to buy for gaming and which not.

• Intel Pentium Gold G6500 specs and review.

• Intel Core i5-6400 specs and review.