Intel Core i9-9900K vs Intel Core i5-12500H

Compare Intel 9th Generation Core i9 8 core CPU vs Intel 12th Generation Core i5 12 core processor, specs and benchmark score. Which is the better CPU for gaming?

CPU Comparison

Quickly search and compare processors

Benchmark Score

Overall Score

A combined score of all workloads

6719 points
6875 points
2% slightly better overall score

Gaming Score

The raw gaming performance with a fast GPU

8223 points
9088 points
10% slightly better gaming score

Multitasking Score

Performance in workloads using up to 8 cores

6214 points
6235 points
0.34% slightly better multitasking score

Heavy Workload Score

Performance in workloads using up to 16 cores

6073 points
6100 points
0.44% slightly better heavy workload score

Free CPU Benchmark

Want to compare your processor against the Core i9-9900K and the Core i5-12500H? Download our free and quick PC Performance Test.

Other Benchmarks

3DMark Physics score

3DMark Physics score

Physics simulation benchmark

7038 points
13% slightly higher 3DMark Physics score
6198 points
Blender score

Blender score

Cycles Render (Samples per minute)

175.64 points
17% slightly higher Blender score
149.52 points
Cinebench R23 score

Cinebench R23 score

Multi threaded benchmark

12397 points
14686 points
18% slightly higher Cinebench R23 score

Specifications

Cores

Number of physical processing units

8
12
49% significantly more cores

Threads

Number of logical processing units

16
Identical
16

Clock Speed

Base frequency at which the chip operates

3.6 GHz
44% significantly higher clock speed
2.5 GHz

Turbo Speed

Higher frequency used for heavy workloads

5 GHz
11% slightly higher turbo speed
4.5 GHz

TDP

Thermal Design Power: Measure of heat generated by the CPU

95 W
45 W
111% significantly lower TDP

PCIe Lanes

Number of physical connections between the CPU and expansion slots

16
28
75% significantly more pcie lanes

Memory Channels

Lanes for simultaneous memory access

2
Identical
2

Supported Memory

Maximum amount of RAM supported by this CPU

128 GiB
100% significantly more supported memory
64 GiB

L1 Cache

Smallest embedded memory, but the fastest

512 KiB
960 KiB
87% significantly more L1 cache

L2 Cache

Secondary embedded memory, slower than L1 cache

2 MiB
5 MiB
150% significantly more L2 cache

L3 Cache

General memory pool for all cores

16 MiB
18 MiB
12% slightly more L3 cache

Other details

Rank

Ranking in the hardwareDB database

209th of 1,089
201st of 1,089

Family

The product line

9th Generation Core i9
12th Generation Core i5

Release date

The official date of release of this chip

2018 November
2022 February

Memory Type

The type of memory used by this chip

DDR4-2666
DDR5-4800

Is Unlocked

Can this CPU can be overclocked

Yes
No

Supports ECC memory

Does this CPU support error correcting memory

No
No

Core i9-9900K vs Core i5-12500H specs and performance

Our benchmark analysis concludes that the Core i9-9900K performs better than the Core i5-12500H. Despite this, the Core i5-12500H has the advantage in our gaming benchmark.

In terms of the number of cores of each of these CPUs, the Core i5-12500H has significantly more cores than the Core i9-9900K. Indeed, the Core i5-12500H has 12 cores compared to 8 cores found in the Core i9-9900K. But they both have the same number of threads. These CPUs have different clock speeds. Indeed, the Core i9-9900K has a significantly higher clock speed compared to the Core i5-12500H. Also, the Core i9-9900K has a slightly higher turbo speed. The Core i5-12500H outputs less heat than Core i9-9900K thanks to a significantly lower TDP. This measures the amount of heat they output and can be used to estimate power consumption. The cache sizes of these CPUs are different. Indeed, the Core i5-12500H has significantly more L2 cache than the Core i9-9900K. The Core i5-12500H also has slightly more L3 cache.

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 i9-9900K has more threads than cores. Each physical core is split into multiple threads.

Comments

No comments yet! Be the first to leave a comment using the form below.

Keep comments on topic and be polite. Comments are subject to moderation before they are published.

Popular CPU Comparisons