Intel Core i5-12400F DDR4 vs DDR5 Review

Up Close - MSI B660M Mortar

The motherboards we're using today are, as we said, the MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi, with one DDR4 and one DDR5. Until now we've had to do our best to allow for any variety in the actual performance of each motherboard, but here the memory is the only difference.

See? Absolutely identical in every regard with only the type of memory you can install being the difference. Perfect if you are the type of user who doesn't want it to be obvious that you've spent less on your system, or if you want to be able to grab a DDR4 setup without compromising the other elements of your package. We've known in the past the B chipsets have been a close match for their bigger brothers, and can't wait to see if that's the case here too.

It might not be a Z690 but the MSI B660M Mortar still offers up Type-A and Type-C USB front panel, as well as a good amount of fan headers to keep everything cool. The VRM heatsinks are extremely chunky and we look forwards to discovering how they perform later on in this review.

Two M.2 slots and 4 SATA slots cover your storage requirements. You might consider that this is to the detriment of the B660 chipset when compared to the full fat Z690, but remember if you're on a budget the chances of you having four M.2 NVMe drives on hand is minimal.

No this isn't a mirror shot, merely a reminder that we've got identical motherboards here, and also showing off the efforts that MSI have gone to in keeping the VRM section nice and cool.

Ready? Let's find out how the Intel Core i5-12400F stacks up to its excellent predecessor, and also if DDR4 or DDR5 is the way to go with this particular CPU.