Home > CPU Comparison > Core i9 14900KF or Core i9 12900KF: what's better?

Intel Core i9 14900KF vs i9 12900KF

85 out of 100
Intel Core i9 14900KF
VS
69 out of 100
Intel Core i9 12900KF
Intel Core i9 14900KF
Intel Core i9 12900KF

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 3.2 GHz Intel Core i9 14900KF with 24-cores against the 3.2 GHz i9 12900KF with 16-cores. 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 (1)

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.
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Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click “Calculate".
Currency
VS
62.5
(Average)
Value Index
60.3
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12900KF and 14900KF
Advantages of Intel Core i9 14900KF
  • Newer - released 2 years later
  • Has 8 more physical cores
  • Supports up to 192 GB DDR5-5600 RAM
  • Has 6 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • 18% higher Turbo Boost frequency (6 GHz vs 5.1 GHz)
  • Around 12.8 GB/s (17%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • 20% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3220 vs 2686 points

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i9 14900KF
vs
Core i9 12900KF

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 690 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 7372 -
Cinebench Scores (19th and 77th 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)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i9 14900KF +26%
20374
Core i9 12900KF
16140
File compression 1590 MB/sec 1150 MB/sec
Clang compilation 200.6 Klines/sec 141 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 491.5 pages/sec 363.2 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 554.9 Mpixels/sec 475.6 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 315.7 pages/sec 274.8 pages/sec
Background blur 74.9 images/sec 66.8 images/sec
Photo processing 151.1 images/sec 138.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 44.2 Mpixels/sec 33.9 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 908 & 1129 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i9 14900KF +43%
58065
Core i9 12900KF
40499
Integer math 208.3 GOps/sec 138.3 GOps/sec
Floating point math 151.4 GOps/sec 104.8 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 228M Primes/sec 138M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 86.4M Strings/sec 56.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 46.2 GBytes/sec 29.2 GBytes/sec
Data compression 780.5 MBytes/sec 532.8 MBytes/sec
Physics 3112 Frames/sec 2054 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 44.5B Matrices/sec 33.4B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 7403 & 3476 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i9 14900KF +41%
516.28
Core i9 12900KF
365.61

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 16.6 PPW 11.7 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 163 PPW 129.1 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 464.5 PPW 324 PPW
Blender / Watt 4.13 PPW 2.92 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 14900KF
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-04 (muffo)Cinebench 2026690 / 7372
📘 2026-05-06 (Alfredo)Cinebench 2024133 / 1883
📘 2026-01-15 (crysis1974)Cinebench 2024135 / 2070
📘 2026-01-15 (crysis1974)Cinebench 2024135 / 2070
📘 2026-01-04 (JJ)Cinebench 2024126 / 2086
Add View all (18)
Intel Core i9 12900KF
No benchmark results yet
Add

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 14900KF and i9 12900KF

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released October 16, 2023 October 27, 2021
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Raptor Lake Refresh Alder Lake
Model number i9-14900KF i9-12900KF
Integrated GPU No No
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 9 7900X - AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Successor - - Intel Core i9 14900KF
Intel CPU rating (9th and 49th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 8
P-Threads 16 16
Base Frequency (P) 3.2 GHz 3.2 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 6 GHz 5.1 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 16 8
E-Threads 16 8
Base Frequency (E) 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 4.4 GHz 3.9 GHz
Total
Total Cores 24 16
Total Threads 32 24
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 32x 32x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 2MB (per core) 14MB (shared)
L3 Cache 36MB (shared) 30MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Fabrication Process 10 nm 10 nm
TDP (PL1) 125 W 125 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 253 W 241 W
Socket LGA-1700 LGA-1700
Peak Temperature 100°C 100°C
Desktop CPU ranking (16th and 51st place)

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-5600
- DDR4-3200		 - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 192 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 89.6 GB/s 76.8 GB/s
ECC Support Yes Yes

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i9 14900KF official page Intel Core i9 12900KF official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
8 (61.5%)
5 (38.5%)
Total votes: 13

Competitors

1. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs Intel Core i9 14900F
2. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs Intel Core i9 14900K
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4. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs Intel Core i7 14700KF
5. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs Intel Core i9 14900HX (1)
6. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
7. Intel Core i9 14900KF vs AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
8. Intel Core i9 12900KF vs Intel Core i9 12900K (15)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i9 12900KF or i9 14900KF?
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Avatar
MysterE May 12, 2024 at 01:52 PM
Tricky choice at today’s prices. With the 14900kf, you get 12-20% better performance, for nearly double the cost…Really analyze if you need the extra horsepower for your workflows (same for K models for video editors). For gaming, imho go with the 12900kf. Especially if you’re doing 4k gaming.
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