Intel Core i9-12900K Review
Verdict
The Intel Cadre i9-12900K is an outstanding high-finish CPU, with Intel offer typically high single-core speeds while also seeing a major heave to multi-threaded workloads to challenge AMD's Ryzen range. Top information technology off with superb hereafter-proofing by way of PCIe v.0 and DDR5, and you have a fantastic chip that offers splendid jack-of-all-trades functioning.
Pros
- Huge gains in multi-cadre performance
- About powerful gaming CPU performance
- Very good for streaming games
- Future-proofed with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5
Cons
- Expensive
- High tiptop temperature
- Merely slightly better than i5 for gaming
Availability
- United states RRP: $589
Key Features
- 12th Gen Intel Core architecture The new Alder Lake architecture boosts functioning, while using two different types of cores to improve efficiency.
- xvi cores and 24 threads With so many cores and threads, this processor excels at multi-threaded workloads and juggling multiple tasks.
- Back up for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 By supporting the latest engineering, this chip raises the performance ceiling of your entire organisation.
Introduction
Intel's new range of 12th Gen desktop processors is finally here, with the Intel Core i9-12900K being the almost powerful of the lot.
Intel claims it'south the "globe's best gaming processor", with the Alder Lake architecture providing a boost to the single-core performance. The number of cores has too been increased to 16, while support for the likes of DDR5 and PCIe v.0 also enhance the performance ceiling of your overall rig to dizzying new heights.
But the near exciting feature here is arguably the new 'hybrid compages' the chip is congenital on, with Intel using two dissimilar types of cores to make its processors smarter at juggling multiple tasks simultaneously.
This is comfortably one of the nigh exciting desktop processors that Intel has launched for a long, long fourth dimension. Just can its performance justify that lofty cost?
Specs
- New Alder Lake architecture provides large functioning gains
- Mix of P-cores and E-cores improves CPU'south efficiency
- Supports new technology such as DDR5 and PCIe 5.0
The Intel Core i9-12900K processor is based on Intel's new 12th Generation Intel Core architecture, which is as well known equally Alder Lake.
New generations of processor compages ordinarily simply offer improved performance efficiency and support for new features, only Intel has gone a step farther with Alder Lake by introducing a revolutionary new 'hybrid' design.
This means the specs included in the table below don't tell the fill story about the Core i9-12900K's upgraded performance.
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Additional Clock Speed
Base Clock Speed
Compages
Number of Cores
Number of Threads
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Rather than using the aforementioned type of cadre throughout, Intel uses a mix of Performance cores (P-cores) and Efficient cores (Eastward-cores). The one-time excel at single-core workloads, while the latter specialise at multi-threaded tasks. The i9-12900K currently packs the almost cores of the Alder Lake range, with 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores resulting in xvi cores and 24 threads.
This new hybrid design, paired with the intelligence of Intel Thread Manager, enables the Intel CPU to assign workloads to the core all-time suited for the task. Such a design doesn't necessarily upshot in more than powerful cores, but it certainly makes the chip more than efficient – think of it like a well-coached football squad.
Intel claims this hybrid design is especially useful when juggling intensive tasks with other workloads. Intel used the example of streaming or recording a game, with the E-cores jumping in to have on such trivial background workloads and taking the pressure off the P-cores that are focusing on offering the best possible gaming performance.
These P-cores plainly encounter a nineteen% functioning uplift for unmarried-core performance compared to 11th Generation architecture. This is peculiarly important for workloads such as gaming, and likely the reason Intel is able to call this the "world's best gaming processor".
The new Alder Lake architecture as well enables the i9-12900K chip to back up the likes of DDR5 RAM and PCIe v.0. The erstwhile allows your organisation to make use of the next generation of RAM, while the latter doubles the bandwidth for the likes of SSDs, which tin significantly improve the loading times of a game. Of course, y'all'll need to buy the relevant hardware in order to brand use of these new upgrades.
The unfortunate side of all of these next-gen upgrades is that Alder Lake processors use a new Z690 chipset, which means y'all'll demand to purchase a brand-new motherboard to accommodate the i9-12900K. This inflates the cost further, especially if you want to buy a motherboard that's compatible with DDR5 memory.
Examination setup
- Maintained consequent specs beyond PC builds where possible
- Used DDR5 memory with Intel 12th Gen rig
- Used both synthetic tests and in-game benchmarks
In order to ensure a off-white test, I benchmarked every processor using the aforementioned components equally possible. Of course, I had to use different motherboards when swapping between processors, and the 12th Gen Intel motherboard I called for testing only supports DDR5 memory.
This means I had to swap between DDR4 and DDR5 memory while testing. This potentially ways some of the performance improvements may be partly due to the DDR5 retentivity upgrade rather than just the improvements to the CPU. Still, I did make sure that both the DDR4 and DDR5 RAM share the same 16GB retention chapters.
You lot tin run into the PC builds I used for testing below:
- Intel Motherboard: ROG Maximus XIII Hero (11th Gen) / ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi (12th Gen)
- AMD Motherboard: TUF Gaming X570-Plus Wi-Fi
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance, 16GB DDR4 / Adata, 16GB DDR5 (Intel 12th Gen)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H150i PRO RGB 360mm liquid cooler
- OS: Windows 11
It was too important to use a wide variety of benchmark tests, with the likes of Geekbench 5 and PCMark 10 for overall CPU operation and Cinebench R23 for creative applications.
Of course, these are bogus benchmark tests that don't always replicate real-time performance. For this reason, I also made certain to choice a wide selection of games to test the processors, including old games such as 2015's Dirt Rally, and more modern releases such every bit 2020's port of Horizon Zero Dawn.
Every game was tested with the max preset graphics settings, with the likes of Borderlands 3, Horizon Nil Dawn and Dirt Rally tested at multiple resolutions: 1080p, 1440p and 4K. Check out all of the findings below.
Functioning
- Best gaming functioning seen in a CPU nevertheless
- Intel Core i5 offered similar gaming performance
- Massive gains in multi-threaded performance
Intel has called its new i9-12900K processor the "world's best gaming processor" – merely after finishing my benchmark tests, I think such a claim is actually underselling the flagship chip.
The gains in unmarried-core operation are undeniably impressive, resulting in sizable frame rate boosts for the majority of games I tested. But it's the improvements to the multi-core operation that impressed the nigh, with both Geekbench v and Cinebench R23 seeing results that are almost twice equally good as what the i9-11900K offers.
This makes the Intel Core i9-12900K 1 of the near powerful and versatile processors around, despite seeing a very like peak power draw as its predecessor.
The but downside I encountered during testing is that the processor can reach high temperatures nether stress. This may mean you lot'll demand to invest in a more powerful cooler to maximise the performance power of this bit. However, it'due south a worthwhile expense for a processor that packs such powerful performance while besides beingness time to come-proofed for the foreseeable future.
Curlicue down for a more than detailed look at the benchmark results.
PCMark 10 Extended
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The PCMark 10 Extended benchmark exam provides a holistic view of your system's functioning, evaluating everything from productivity and content creation to gaming.
The Intel Core i9-12900K saw a effect of 9966, which is a decent reward over the 9778 score of the i9-11900K, and a massive increment on the Intel i5-11600K. Given the improvements that the Alder Lake architecture brings, it's no surprise to see the Intel Cadre i9-12900K performing so well here.
Geekbench 5
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Geekbench v single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
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Geekbench v focuses more than on CPU speeds, while besides splitting upwardly the single-cadre and multi-core functioning. This is a particularly interesting benchmark for Alder Lake, with Intel previously excelling at single-core performance, but lagging behind AMD for multi-cadre.
It was no surprise to encounter the i9-1200K top the leaderboard for single-core operation in tests, but the margin was still impressive. Information technology was the multi-cadre result that really wowed me, seeing about a 100% improvement over the i9-11900K.
This proves that the Intel Core i9-1200K isn't merely a one-trick pony like previous Intel chips, instead offer all-round performance that should exist able to blitz through any workload.
Cinebench R23
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Cinebench R23 is a similar exam to Geekbench 5 in that it measures both unmarried-core and multi-cadre performance. However, it as well simulates more taxing workloads on the processor to run across how it would perform in demanding content-cosmos applications.
Every bit expected, it conquered the single-cadre exam, but we likewise saw it deliver an impressive performance atomic number 82 over Intel's 11th Generation processors when information technology came to multi-core performance.
This indicates that the Intel Core i9-12900K is a superb processor for content creation. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to test the Ryzen 9 5950X for comparing, which is AMD's best consumer flake for such workloads, but I'll be updating this review every bit before long every bit I go my hands on it.
Horizon Zero Dawn
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Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (4K)
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (Quad HD)
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (Total HD)
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Horizon Zero Dawn is a modernistic PC that's pretty demanding on your system, and and so a good option for the benchmark tests. The i9-12900K performed very well here, with a 117fps performance at 1080p, and 54fps at 4K when paired with the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti.
Those were the all-time results in the test group, although it was oft on a par with the cheaper i5-12600K processor. Still, its lead over 11th Gen Intel processors was even so very impressive, seeing an 18fps improvement compared to the i9-11900K.
Dirt Rally
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Dirt Rally (4K)
Dirt Rally (Quad Hard disk)
Dirt Rally (Full HD)
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Dirt Rally launched all the way dorsum in 2015, so is a good instance of less demanding games that were released a number of years agone. The Intel Core i9-12900K saw a massive leap in power, with a 230fps performance at a 1080p resolution compared to the 208fps performance of the Intel Core i9-11900K – that's a 27fps difference.
Of course, when you crank up the resolution to 4K, the performance increase is minimal – both the i9-12900K and i9-11900K scored 99fps in the Dirt Rally 4K test. This emphasises that for a significant boost at Ultra Hard disk resolutions, you lot'll ideally need to upgrade your GPU rather than your CPU.
Borderlands three
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Borderlands 3 frame charge per unit (4K)
Borderlands 3 frame rate (Quad Hd)
Borderlands 3 frame rate (Full HD)
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Borderlands 3 is some other modern game that's very demanding on your PC, and proved to be the i blackness mark on the i9-12900K's record. The new Intel fleck scored 104fps and 41fps in the 1080p and 4K tests respectively. In comparison, the Intel i9-11900K scored 120fps and 74fps – which meant that, bizarrely, it outperformed the new 12th Gen processor.
How is this possible? Well, it likely comes down to driver support. Intel has revealed it has encountered some early compatibility issues with select games. These have mostly been addressed via game patches and Windows updates, simply some games are still waiting for updates. I'1000 bold Borderlands three is i of those games.
I'thousand confident that Intel volition address these bug very soon, and it's understandable that new drivers are needed since the likes of the hybrid architecture and DDR5 memory are so cut-border. Even so, it'due south something to be mindful about if yous want to upgrade to Alder Lake every bit soon as possible.
Total War: Warhammer 2
| Warhammer 2: Campaign (in FPS) | Warhammer 2: Battle (in FPS) | |
| Intel i9-12900K | 62.7 | 49.2 |
| Intel i5-12600K | 62.seven | 49.2 |
| Intel i9-11900K | 61.half-dozen | 48.4 |
| Intel i5-11600K | 61.eight | 48.2 |
| Ryzen 7 5800X | 61.eight | 46.7 |
I included Total War: Warhammer 2 in our benchmark tests to ensure I had a representative for strategy games. The i9-12900K was the most powerful processor in the grouping test, but only saw marginal gains over its 11th Gen predecessors.
Admittedly, I set the resolution to 4K for both the campaign and boxing benchmarks, so the less-than-impressive gains are likely due to that high resolution – just a GPU can really provide a substantial boost when playing at Ultra HD resolutions.
Civilization Half-dozen
| Civilization VI (Plough Time in seconds) | |
| Intel i9-12900K | 6.85 |
| Intel i5-12600K | six.90 |
| Intel i9-11900K | 6.92 |
| Intel i5-11600K | 7.07 |
| Ryzen seven 5800X | 6.83 |
Culture VI differs from the other in-game benchmark tests here, since information technology measures 'plow time' instead of frame rate performance. This refers to the time information technology takes for the AI to make its calculations in-betwixt turns, with the speed dependent on the CPU performance.
Since we're talking about turn fourth dimension, the lower effect is better, and the Intel Core i9-12900K offered the quickest speeds with a 6.85-2d average. The Intel Cadre i9-11900K was only marginally slower with a half dozen.92-2d result, simply it still reinforces the point that the Intel Core i9-12900K is the nearly powerful gaming processor yous can currently buy.
Power consumption and heat
- Loftier power consumption, only similar to 11th Gen
- Runs noticeably hot under stress
The i9-12900K is a seriously powerful processor, merely how does it fare in terms of power consumption? It'southward certainly a power hog, consuming more than power than whatever of the other processors on exam – but it didn't consume quite as much ability equally you might expect.
| Idle power draw | Acme power draw | |
| Intel i9-12900K | 69.1 West | 335.5 W |
| Intel i5-12600K | 65.5 W | 195.6 West |
| Intel i9-11900K | 67.vii W | 330 Westward |
| Intel i5-11600K | 65.five W | 201.iv West |
| Ryzen seven 5800X | 66.ix Due west | 193.4 W |
The Alder Lake chip saw an idle top power draw of 69.1W and a height power draw of 333.5W when running the Cinebench R23 criterion. For comparing, the Intel Core i9-11900K saw respective results of 67.7W and 330 W. Those are very similar results.
It'southward impressive that Intel has been able to provide high operation gains without cranking up the power consumption. That said, you'll withal demand a fairly high-spec ability supply if y'all're going to pair this chip with a high-end GPU.
| Idle CPU temperature | Height CPU temperature | |
| Intel i9-12900K | 28°C | 97°C |
| Intel i5-12600K | 24°C | 68°C |
| Intel i9-11900K | 29°C | 75°C |
| Intel i5-11600K | thirty°C | 64°C |
| Ryzen vii 5800X | 45°C | 86°C |
I used the Corsair Hydro Serial H150i PRO RGB 360mm liquid cooler for testing every one of the five processors to ensure fair results when judging CPU temperature. While the i9-12900K saw a low idle temperature, undercutting both of the 11th Gen chips, its height temperature (during a Cinebench R23 benchmark) was a sky-loftier 97.01°C.
This ways you'll need a powerful cooler in order to maximise the performance power of this chip, peculiarly when overclocking. The added outlay of a cooler also potentially pushes upwardly the total price of the upgrade, along with the chip itself, Z690 motherboard and potentially besides DDR5 RAM. It's an expensive investment, just will at to the lowest degree ensure your system is future-proofed for the foreseeable time to come.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If yous want the ultimate CPU The Intel Core i9-12900K is the most powerful bit available when it comes to gaming, while as well offering an excellent multi-core performance to challenge AMD'due south very best.
You lot just want a processor for gaming The i5-12600K is arguably the better buy for gaming, offering a similar level of operation while beingness available at a far more affordable price.
Final thoughts
The i9-12900K is an outstanding processor, delivering on its promise to become the world'due south well-nigh powerful consumer chip for gaming, while too seeing a massive boost in multi-threaded functioning to finally challenge AMD. If you lot only need a CPU for gaming, I'd argue that the i5-12600K represents superior value, only this is withal a worthwhile chip if you want a high-end processor that tin can practice it all.
How we test
Nosotros always review multiple CPUs at once to compare engagement, using consistent components for fair testing where possible.
Nosotros apply a mix of both synthetic and in-game benchmarks to gauge performance, while likewise considering additional features and pricing.
Use the same components where possible for fair testing.
Use both synthetic and in-game benchmarks for testing
Exam both CPU temperature and power consumption.
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FAQs
Is Core i9 good for gaming?
The Core i9 offers excellent performance for gaming, just the i5 offers similar performance and arguably represents better value.
Is the i9-12900K overkill?
The i9-12900K is only really worthwhile for those who desire high functioning in both content creation and gaming.
Is i9-12900K faster than i9-11900K?
Yes, the i9-12900K saw faster benchmark results in well-nigh every examination, with the only exception being games still waiting for a software patch.
Trusted Reviews test data
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PCMark 10
Cinebench R23
Geekbench 5 unmarried core
Geekbench v multi core
Elevation temperature
Borderlands iii frame rate (4K)
Borderlands three frame rate (Quad Hard disk drive)
Borderlands 3 frame rate (Total Hard disk drive)
Horizon Zero Dawn frame rate (4K)
Horizon Zippo Dawn frame rate (Quad HD)
Horizon Aught Dawn frame rate (Full Hd)
Dirt Rally (4K)
Dirt Rally (Quad Hard disk drive)
Dirt Rally (Full Hard disk)
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Total specs
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Graphics
Motherboard Chipset
Number of Threads
Number of Cores
Compages
Additional Clock Speed
Base Clock Speed
Release Date
Start Reviewed Date
Manufacturer
United states of america RRP
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Jargon buster
DLSS
Deep learning super sampling is Nvidia'due south image upscaling engineering which tin can improve a game's framerate without reducing the quality of the visuals.
FPS
'Framerate per 2d' indicates how many images are shown inside one 2nd. The higher this effigy, the smoother in-game motion volition appear. Powerful discrete GPUs are far more probable to offer higher framerates compared to integrated graphics housed inside processors.
Wi-Fi 6
I of the latest wireless standards that allows for faster speeds and better coverage when paired with compatible routers.
Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-12900k
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