Intel Core i7-12700K vs Intel Core i9-12900K

Compare Intel 12th Generation Core i7 12 core CPU vs Intel 12th Generation Core i9 16 core processor, specs and benchmark score. Which is the better CPU for gaming?

CPU Comparison

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Price

The cheapest price from our partner retailers

$ 377.15
$ 238.38 significantly less expensive
$ 615.52

Benchmark Score

Overall Score

A combined score of all workloads

116 %
134 %
15% slightly better overall score

Gaming Score

The raw gaming performance with a fast GPU

134 %
143 %
6% slightly better gaming score

Multitasking Score

Performance in workloads using up to 8 cores

111 %
131 %
18% slightly better multitasking score

Heavy Workload Score

Performance in workloads using up to 16 cores

109 %
130 %
19% slightly better heavy workload score

Free CPU Benchmark

Want to compare your processor against the Core i7-12700K and the Core i9-12900K? Download our free and quick PC Performance Test.

Other Benchmarks

3DMark Physics score

3DMark Physics score

Physics simulation benchmark

16259
18186
11% slightly higher 3DMark Physics score
Blender score

Blender score

Cycles Render (Samples per minute)

329.77
390.35
18% slightly higher Blender score
Cinebench R23 score

Cinebench R23 score

Multi threaded benchmark

22565
27005
19% slightly higher Cinebench R23 score
Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Geekbench 5 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

13491
15144
12% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (multi) score
Geekbench 5 (single) score

Geekbench 5 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

2487
2550
2% slightly higher Geekbench 5 (single) score
Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Geekbench 6 (multi) score

Multi threaded benchmark

13400
15123
12% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (multi) score
Geekbench 6 (single) score

Geekbench 6 (single) score

Single threaded benchmark

2476
2556
3% slightly higher Geekbench 6 (single) score

Specifications

Cores

Number of physical processing units

12
16
33% slightly more cores

Threads

Number of logical processing units

20
24
20% slightly more threads

Clock Speed

Base frequency at which the chip operates

3.6 GHz
12% slightly higher clock speed
3.2 GHz

Turbo Speed

Higher frequency used for heavy workloads

5 GHz
5.2 GHz
4% slightly higher turbo speed

TDP

Thermal Design Power: Measure of heat generated by the CPU

190 W
26% slightly lower TDP
241 W

PCIe Lanes

Number of physical connections between the CPU and expansion slots

20
Identical
20

Memory Channels

Lanes for simultaneous memory access

2
Identical
2

Supported Memory

Maximum amount of RAM supported by this CPU

128 GiB
Identical
128 GiB

L1 Cache

Smallest embedded memory, but the fastest

960 KiB
1280 KiB
33% slightly more L1 cache

L3 Cache

General memory pool for all cores

25 MiB
30 MiB
20% slightly more L3 cache

Other details

Rank

Ranking in the hardwareDB database

14th of 627
8th of 627

Family

The product line

12th Generation Core i7
12th Generation Core i9

Release date

The official date of release of this chip

November 2021
November 2021

Memory Type

The type of memory used by this chip

DDR5-4800
DDR5-4800

Is Unlocked

Can this CPU can be overclocked

Yes
Yes

Supports ECC memory

Does this CPU support error correcting memory

Yes
Yes

Core i7-12700K vs Core i9-12900K specs and performance

According to the hardwareDB Benchmark tool, the Core i9-12900K is faster than the Core i7-12700K. Furthermore, our gaming benchmark shows that it also outperforms the Core i7-12700K in all gaming tests too.

In terms of the number of cores of each of these CPUs, the Core i9-12900K has slightly more cores than the Core i7-12700K. Indeed, the Core i9-12900K has 16 cores compared to 12 cores found in the Core i7-12700K. It also has more threads than the Core i7-12700K. These CPUs have different clock speeds. Indeed, the Core i7-12700K has a slightly higher clock speed compared to the Core i9-12900K. Despite this, the Core i9-12900K has a slightly higher turbo speed. A Core i7-12700K CPU outputs less heat than a Core i9-12900K CPU because of its slightly 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. Indeed, the Core i7-12700K has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.

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