Intel Core i9 12900K vs i5 12600K
68
out of 100
VS
58
out of 100
We compared two desktop CPUs: the 3,2 GHz Intel Core i9 12900K with 16-cores against the 3.7 GHz i5 12600K with 10-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
Review
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
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core i9 12900K
- Has 6 more physical cores
- Has 10 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
- 4% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5.1 GHz vs 4.9 GHz)
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench Scores (63rd and 167th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 1260 MB/sec | 822.6 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 146.1 Klines/sec | 98.7 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 414.2 pages/sec | 261.1 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 480.2 Mpixels/sec | 347.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 273.2 pages/sec | 258.5 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 69.4 images/sec | 58.9 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 147.8 images/sec | 103.5 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 34.4 Mpixels/sec | 22.8 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 139.2 GOps/sec | 87.8 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 105.4 GOps/sec | 67.1 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 145M Primes/sec | 90M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 57.1M Strings/sec | 35.7M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 29.5 GBytes/sec | 18.4 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 536.7 MBytes/sec | 342.8 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 2203 Frames/sec | 1515 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 33.6B Matrices/sec | 22B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 12.2 PPW | 7.6 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 136 PPW | 97.6 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 328.9 PPW | 220.1 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 2.93 PPW | 1.88 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i9 12900K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2025-11-12 (ElNils) | Cinebench 2024 | 114 / 1497 |
| π 2025-09-20 (Jarx) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2811 / 18033 |
| π 2025-05-24 (unsorted) | Cinebench 2024 | 109 / 1339 |
| π 2025-04-03 (AdKraemer) | Cinebench 2024 | 113 / 1414 |
| π 2025-03-20 (Lethal) | Cinebench 2024 | 116 / 1571 |
Intel Core i5 12600K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2025-12-28 (Jin) | Cinebench 2024 | 108 / 910 |
| π 2025-12-28 (Jin) | Cinebench 2024 | 108 / 906 |
| π 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2668 / 12254 |
| π 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus) | Cinebench 2024 | 118 / 1041 |
| π 2025-12-05 (Kierannosaurus) | Cinebench 2024 | 115 / 1017 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 12900K and i5 12600KGeneral
| Vendor | Intel | Intel |
| Released | October 27, 2021 | October 27, 2021 |
| Type | Desktop | Desktop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | x86-64 |
| Codename | Alder Lake | Alder Lake |
| Model number | i9-12900K | i5-12600K |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 770 | UHD Graphics 770 |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | - AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K | - Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus |
Intel CPU rating (53rd and 96th place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 8 | 6 |
| P-Threads | 16 | 12 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3,2 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 5.1 GHz | 4.9 GHz |
| E-Cores | 8 | 4 |
| E-Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Base Frequency (E) | 2.4 GHz | 2.8 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (E) | 3.9 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| Total Cores | 16 | 10 |
| Total Threads | 24 | 16 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Multiplier | 32x | 37x |
| L1 Cache | 64K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 14MB (shared) | 9728K (shared) |
| L3 Cache | 30MB (shared) | 20MB (shared) |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | Yes |
Package
| Fabrication Process | 10 nm | 10 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 125 W | 125 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 241 W | 150 W |
| Socket | LGA-1700 | LGA-1700 |
| Peak Temperature | 100Β°C | 100Β°C |
Desktop CPU ranking (54th and 86th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 |
| GPU Base Clock | 300 MHz | 300 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1550 MHz | 1450 MHz |
| Shading Units | 256 | 256 |
| TMUs | 16 | 16 |
| ROPs | 8 | 8 |
| Execution Units | 32 | 32 |
| TGP | 15 W | 15 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
- DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 76.8 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| ECC Support | Yes | Yes |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i9 12900K official page | Intel Core i5 12600K official page |
| PCI Express Version | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 20 | 20 |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 194
