Home > CPU Comparison > Core i9 12900K or Ryzen 9 5950X: what's better?

Intel Core i9 12900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

68 out of 100
Intel Core i9 12900K
VS
63 out of 100
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Intel Core i9 12900K
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

We compared two 16-core desktop CPUs: the 3,2 GHz Intel Core i9 12900K against the 3.4 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. 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 (18)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click β€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
62.2
(Average)
Value Index
40.4
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 5950X and 12900K
Advantages of Intel Core i9 12900K
  • Around 29.12 GB/s (61%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • Newer - released 1 year and 1 month later
  • 16% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2633 vs 2276 points
  • Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
  • 4% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5.1 GHz vs 4.9 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
  • Has 34 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 10 nanometers

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i9 12900K
vs
Ryzen 9 5950X

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) - 464
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) - 5693
Cinebench Scores (63rd and 76th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Core i9 12900K +16%
2633
Ryzen 9 5950X
2276
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i9 12900K +34%
17003
Ryzen 9 5950X
12728
File compression 1260 MB/sec 1120 MB/sec
Clang compilation 146.1 Klines/sec 147.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 414.2 pages/sec 224.5 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 480.2 Mpixels/sec 372.1 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 273.2 pages/sec 222.5 pages/sec
Background blur 69.4 images/sec 28.4 images/sec
Photo processing 147.8 images/sec 85 images/sec
Ray tracing 34.4 Mpixels/sec 38.4 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 461 & 741 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i9 12900K +19%
4128
Ryzen 9 5950X
3476
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i9 12900K
41115
Ryzen 9 5950X +10%
45260
Integer math 139.2 GOps/sec 183.9 GOps/sec
Floating point math 105.4 GOps/sec 100.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 145M Primes/sec 223M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 57.1M Strings/sec 64.9M Strings/sec
Data encryption 29.5 GBytes/sec 39.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 536.7 MBytes/sec 622.5 MBytes/sec
Physics 2203 Frames/sec 1854 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 33.6B Matrices/sec 40.4B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 11364 & 19398 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i9 12900K
366.86
Ryzen 9 5950X +13%
413.83

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 12.2 PPW 13.9 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 136 PPW 121.2 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 328.9 PPW 431 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.93 PPW 3.94 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i9 12900K
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-12 (ElNils)Cinebench 2024114 / 1497
πŸ“˜ 2025-09-20 (Jarx)Geekbench 6 CPU2811 / 18033
πŸ“˜ 2025-05-24 (unsorted)Cinebench 2024109 / 1339
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-03 (AdKraemer)Cinebench 2024113 / 1414
πŸ“˜ 2025-03-20 (Lethal)Cinebench 2024116 / 1571
Add View all (8)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-12 (stream pc)Cinebench 2026456 / 4979
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-30 (DDD)Cinebench 2026464 / 5693
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-04 (PhillyBass)Geekbench 6 CPU2259 / 12745
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-04 (PhillyBass)Cinebench 202499 / 1448
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-07 (C0d3M0nk3y)Cinebench 202497 / 1451
Add View all (13)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 12900K and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

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 i9-12900K -
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 770 No
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 9 5950X - Intel Core i9 11900K
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K - AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Intel CPU rating (#53rd place)
AMD Ryzen CPU ranking (#51st place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 16
P-Threads 16 32
Base Frequency (P) 3,2 GHz 3.4 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5.1 GHz 4.9 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 -
E-Threads 8 -
Base Frequency (E) 2.4 GHz -
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.9 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 16 16
Total Threads 24 32
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 32x 34x
L1 Cache 64K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 14MB (shared) 512K (per core)
L3 Cache 30MB (shared) 64MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Transistors - 4.15 billions
Fabrication Process 10 nm 7 nm
TDP (PL1) 125 W 105 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 241 W 142 W
Socket LGA-1700 AM4
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 95Β°C
Desktop CPU ranking (54th and 72nd place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 770 -
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz -
GPU Boost Clock 1550 MHz -
Shading Units 256 -
TMUs 16 -
ROPs 8 -
Execution Units 32 -
TGP 15 W -
iGPU FLOPS
Core i9 12900K
0.8 TFLOPS
Ryzen 9 5950X
n/a
See: Intel UHD Graphics 770 benchmarks

Memory Support

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

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i9 12900K official page AMD Ryzen 9 5950X official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
1058 (51.7%)
990 (48.3%)
Total votes: 2048

Competitors

1. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
2. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 7900
3. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (5)
4. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
5. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
6. Intel Core i9 12900K vs Intel Core i7 14700K
7. Intel Core i9 12900K vs Intel Core i7 13700K (9)
8. Intel Core i9 12900K vs Intel Core i5 14600K
9. Intel Core i9 12900K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (1)
10. Intel Core i9 12900K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X or Intel Core i9 12900K?
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Avatar
kau April 5, 2022 at 01:41 PM
Why do we need e-cores in high-end desktop processors? are ppl using these chips for checking mail on chrome?!
+22 Reply
Avatar
Bbb April 23, 2022 at 03:55 PM
They are small and efficient so they give a better boss to the multi-core because instead of two regular cores you can put eight e cores, they also allow the computer to perform additional tasks while all the p cores deal with more important tasks.
+16 Reply
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Lkd August 13, 2022 at 04:41 PM
These are necessary for gaming
+1 Reply
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im not givin out my name December 9, 2022 at 07:03 PM
Lkd, they are not used at all for gaming, and it would be more efficient to do a large core.
+2 Reply
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Stats March 28, 2022 at 07:57 PM
I have 5950x for 4 months now and all 32 cores I have running a base clock of 4.7ghz and boost will hit 5.1 to 5.2 on a couple of cores, so 12900k is not that impressive to me. What to impress us with a chip that will run a 5ghz base clock then we can talk, AMD was the gaming chip to have back in the day then Intel took over and never looked back till AMD came out of the shadows with new technology. While Intel had a market they just set on their hills changing chip little here giving it a new name and saying new, while AMD was working on new 7nm, so we will see what future holds but for now the silicon is the limitation of these fast chips and to they figure something out to replace it will never see anything faster.
+9 Reply
Avatar
Egg April 20, 2022 at 01:52 AM
32 cores? Do you mean 32 threads?
+50 Reply
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Stefan March 24, 2022 at 08:48 PM
Honestly, the 5950x has 2.5-year-old technology and still performs really well...
+14 Reply
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mick_sad March 15, 2022 at 06:58 PM
all things competitive as the result. But I have practical experience in both so, you should not concern only CPU because other parts help to increase the performance. so "AMD" "INTEL" both are good but higher performance and higher graphics AMD did well perform.
+4 Reply
Avatar
Pubg January 6, 2022 at 07:02 AM
AMD + Samsung = new powerful processor will come in 2022 Q3 which will be more powerful than Intel core i9 12900k. AMD is always the winner. Keep calm and believe in AMD ryzen ... 😌😌
+16 Reply
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Sks January 11, 2022 at 03:35 PM
Intel did not stop making processors, for AMD to winπŸ˜‚.
+26 Reply
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Kamal B. February 25, 2022 at 09:19 PM
In your dreams not gonna happen. πŸ˜‚
+7 Reply
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sard March 7, 2022 at 02:21 PM
The only way AMD would "win" is if Intel stopped making processors altogether. The 13th gen Intels will blow AMD out of the water.
+11 Reply
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Naman March 9, 2022 at 02:40 PM
sard, AMD's previous generation CPU is giving competition to intel latest generation after one year intel is just equivalent to AMD.
+7 Reply
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Immortal May 20, 2022 at 12:11 PM
Don’t forget about the threadripper
+4 Reply
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sTranGeR July 31, 2022 at 10:16 PM
Immortal, Exactly. Threadripper like- daddy is here
+2 Reply
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Keka August 13, 2022 at 04:42 PM
Immortal, Don't forget about the 400-watt power consumption of the hockey pockey ripper.
+1 Reply
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Sam December 15, 2023 at 07:26 AM
sard, I see that Intel, despite their so-called advanced marketing, still can't beat AMD. 🀣🀣
0 Reply
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Sam December 15, 2023 at 07:28 AM
Keka, That processor may have slightly lower performance than Intel's flagship, but it can perform similarly while handling three more instances. This is what Threadripper and Epyc CPUs are capable of.
0 Reply
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