(Image credit: @momomo_us / X)

A new budget gaming processor (via momomo_us), the Intel Core 5 120F, has appeared online. It is thought to be based on the upcoming Bartlett Lake architecture.

According to the image shared by popular hardware leaker, the Core 5 120F features six P-Cores, with a max turbo frequency of 4.5 GHz, while dropping all E-Cores. It also sports 18MB of L3 Cache and supports up to 192GB of DDR5-4800 memory. The Intel Core 5 120F is the supposed successor to the Intel Core i5-12400F, which features a similar configuration but only has a max turbo frequency of 4.4 GHz.

The Intel Core 5 120F brings back hyperthreading, which the company ditched for the latest Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake processors launched last year. Although this made Intel’s chips more efficient, they also suffered in gaming performance benchmarks, with the Core Ultra 200S trailing behind AMD and even previous-generation Intel processors. It also uses LGA 1700, meaning gamers who bought affordable 12th-generation Intel chips can upgrade to a more modern CPU without replacing their motherboard.

Team Blue is marketing this new chip to budget gamers, saying it is “the perfect choice for gamers who want to play hard without breaking the bank—no frills, just thrills.” It also said it’s built for eSports and AAA titles running at 1080p.

Intel Core 5 120F Specifications

AMD has dominated the gaming market with its Ryzen APUs, especially with the X3D processors, but it seems that Intel is making strategic efforts to shift the balance. While the Intel Core 5 120F won’t hold a candle to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D or its more powerful variants, it seems ready to compete against the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, which is a good mainstream gaming CPU that launched in 2020 (and updated to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT in 2024), or the Ryzen 5 8400F, which was initially a China-only chip before receiving a global launch in 2024.

Unfortunately, we don’t have pricing yet for the Intel Core 5 120F. But if Intel wants to gain ground in the mainstream market, it must price it competitively—probably around $100 to $150. If that happens, you can pair it with an Intel Arc B570, giving gamers on a budget a chance to build a decent modern gaming PC without spending an arm and a leg on new hardware.

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