Intel Core i5-8600K vs Intel Core i7-12700K

Core i5-8600K vs Core i7-12700K specs and performance

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i7-12700K performs better than the Core i5-8600K. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i5-8600K in all gaming tests too.

In terms of the number of cores of each of these CPUs, the Core i7-12700K has significantly more cores than the Core i5-8600K. Indeed, the Core i7-12700K has 12 cores compared to 6 cores found in the Core i5-8600K. It also has more threads than the Core i5-8600K. According to our data, the Core i5-8600K and Core i7-12700K have the same clock speed. Despite this, the Core i7-12700K has a slightly higher turbo speed. A Core i5-8600K CPU outputs less heat than a Core i7-12700K CPU because of its significantly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption.

Most CPUs have more threads than cores. This technology, colloquially called hyperthreading, improves performance by splitting a core into multiple virtual ones. This provides more efficient utilisation of a core. For instance, the Core i5-8600K has the same number of threads as cores. This means the the CPU does not support hyperthreading.