Home > CPU Comparisons > Core i7 12700K or Ryzen 9 5900X: what's better?

Intel Core i7 12700K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

Intel Core i7 12700K
VS
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Intel Core i7 12700K
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

We compared two 12-core desktop CPUs: the 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 12700K against the 3.7 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (4)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of electricity consumption
NanoReview Final Score
Generic CPU rating

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 5900X and 12700K
Advantages of Intel Core i7 12700K
  • Newer - released 1-year and 1-month later
  • Around 29.12 GB/s (61%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • 27% faster in a single-core Geekbench v5 test - 2096 vs 1644 points
  • Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
  • More than 10° C higher critical temperature
  • 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.9 GHz vs 4.8 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
  • Has 39 MB larger L3 cache size
  • More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 10 nanometers

Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs in benchmarks
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Core i7 12700K +24%
1927
Ryzen 9 5900X
1559
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Core i7 12700K +12%
22969
Ryzen 9 5900X
20570
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i7 12700K +17%
4020
Ryzen 9 5900X
3440
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i7 12700K
34708
Ryzen 9 5900X +13%
39057
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Core i7 12700K +27%
2082
Ryzen 9 5900X
1637
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Core i7 12700K +9%
15445
Ryzen 9 5900X
14132
Submit your Cinebench R23 result
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Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 12700K and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

General

Vendor Intel AMD
Released October 27, 2021 October 8, 2020
Type Desktop Desktop
instruction set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Alder Lake Zen 3 (Vermeer)
Model number i7-12700K -
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 770 No

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 12
P-Threads 16 24
Base Frequency (P) 3.6 GHz 3.7 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.9 GHz 4.8 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 -
E-Threads 4 -
Base Frequency (E) 2.7 GHz -
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.8 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 12 12
Total Threads 20 24
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 36x 37x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 12MB (shared) 512K (per core)
L3 Cache 25MB (shared) 64MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Transistors - 4.15 billions
Fabrication process 10 nm 7 nm
Socket LGA-1700 AM4
TDP 125 W 105 W
Max. Boost TDP 190 W -
Peak temperature 100°C 90°C

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 770 -
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz -
GPU Boost Clock 1500 MHz -
Shading Units 256 -
TMUs 16 -
ROPs 8 -
Execution Units 32 -
TGP 15 W -
iGPU FLOPS
Core i7 12700K
0.78 TFLOPS
Ryzen 9 5900X
n/a

Memory Support

Memory types DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 DDR4-3200
Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Max. Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s 47.68 GB/s
ECC Support Yes Yes

Misc

Official site Intel Core i7 12700K official page AMD Ryzen 9 5900X official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
394 (59%)
274 (41%)
Total votes: 668

Сompetitors

1. Intel Core i7 12700K or Apple M1 Max
2. Intel Core i7 12700K or Intel Core i7 13700K
3. Intel Core i7 12700K or Intel Core i9 11900K
4. Intel Core i7 12700K or Intel Core i7 12700
5. Intel Core i7 12700K or AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
6. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i5 12600K
7. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i7 13700K
8. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
9. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i5 13600K
10. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Compare other CPUs (480+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i7 12700K?
Avatar
Just Me 17 December 2022 04:46
Kam B, who needs luck? If you read up in the comments, it's already been pointed out the cost for Intel boards is way more expensive than AMD. For the 10'ish percent increase, do you feel 300 to 400 more bucks is a good tradeoff? Looks like you and Intel are the ones needing to hold onto that luck.
0 Reply
Avatar
Альберт 02 October 2022 16:33
Всегда покупал Интел, но нынче купил АМД 5 серии. Горячее дерьмо мне не надо.
0 Reply
Avatar
Mike 21 December 2021 16:26
I'd buy the 5900x if it came down in price to equal the 12700k...which seems to outperform the 5900k...until then they can keep it...price gouging works BOTH ways.
+22 Reply
Avatar
Luden 14 July 2022 10:13
It's not just about the CPU when it comes to Cost. Intel's Motherboards have always been a lot more expensive than AMD boards with similar features. So in some ways, the Cost equals out when buying a CPU and MB. I bounce back and forth between Intel and AMD so no fanboy here. These days they will constantly be leap-frogging each other since they don't release new CPU lines simultaneously. One positive thing about AMD is being able to use the same AM4 Motherboard and upgrade to newer CPUs while Intel likes to change their damn socket type a lot more frequently so for some people they would need a new Motherboard as well for an Intel CPU Upgrade. At the moment Intel is in the lead with PCI 5.0 and DDR5 but of course, AMD will be right behind them. There is a lot of Subjectivity for CPUs and what people's needs are but there is also a factual objective side about what CPU is better for the money. I'm a 3D Modeler, Animator, and Unreal 5 hobbyist/developer so for me, having those 24 to 36 cores is extremely valuable, worth paying more, and because it saves me a ton of time in rendering and workflow (like 1000+ hours with my current AMF setup compared to a 11700K. So saving all that time is well worth the cost, by far. But yeah, most people who argue over which is better are Gamers and don't see the value in what certain CPUs do for Productivity/Workstation uses.
+22 Reply
Avatar
Kam B 26 November 2021 20:45
Why on the 12700k's Intel Ark website it says that it's a 7 nm processor and not 10 nm someone pls explain.
+22 Reply
Avatar
Root 26 November 2021 21:07
We've made a mistake, now it's fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.
+13 Reply
Avatar
gamma 02 March 2022 00:32
they changed the name of their intel 10nm enhanced fin-fet node to "INTEL 7"
+2 Reply
Avatar
Emre 06 March 2022 00:27
Intel just fooling consumers and creating confusion by naming their 10nm process to "Intel 7" it is just branding. There is no meaning of the number 7, it is just a plain 10nm process Intel trying to develop on their mobile cpus for 4 generations. There were 10nm processors on their 8th gen.
+1 Reply
Avatar
Kam B 24 March 2022 23:47
Emre, We really got some AMD Fanboys up in here I actually like AMD Graphics Cards more than Nvidia in my opinion, but Intel has the lead right now in performance and what's said is a 10 nm Processor beating a 7 nm processor, even by a tiny bit. To be honest, right now Intel got more Processors at a better value and performance than AMD anyways good Luck.
+6 Reply
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