Intel Core I9-12900K 3.20GHZ Chip

Product Information

Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. Though we didn't run any benchmarks on the integrated graphics processor (IGP) of the Core i9-11900K (partly because of time constraints, but mainly because few buyers will shop for this chip and not pair it with a graphics card), we recommend hopping over to our review of the Core i5-12600K to see just how much of an improvement gamers can expect. For those looking for an IGP that can just drive a display, though, the Iris Xe UHD Graphics 770 solution will support four 4K (up to 4,096-by-2,303-pixel) displays, at up to 60Hz.

Processors that support 64-bit computing on Intel® architecture require an Intel 64 architecture-enabled BIOS. This will help to explain the core/thread disparity that you'll see in the specs below, as only the P-cores will be Hyper-Threaded this time around (that is, supporting two processing threads per P-core), while E-cores will support just one thread per core.Right now, the laptop market has far fewer options than the desktop space when it comes to Core i9 processors. As mentioned earlier, Intel's mobile processors for powerful laptops are dubbed the H-Series, with names that end in "H" or "HK." Core i9 chips show up only in this series, as do some Core i7s. You'll also see plenty of Core i7s in Intel's U-Series, but these are meant for thin laptops, not power machines. They're not relevant to a Core i7-versus-i9 comparison. In our more limited run of benchmarks on Windows 11 we did find that, in certain circumstances, Thread Director provided a sizable benefit. Sometimes the difference was negligible (for example, Cinebench R23, POV-Ray, and gaming tests all stayed roughly the same), while in others like the Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere runs, we saw an improvement of nearly 30% in both benchmarks. Whether that means it's 30% faster in Windows 11 or 30% slower in Windows 10 is all a matter of your vantage point. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central) You should buy this if ...

All models support up to DDR5-4800, LPDDR5-5200, DDR4-3200, or LPDDR4X-4266 memory, and 28 lanes of PCI Express 4.0/3.0. We ran the Photoshop and Premiere Pro versions of these benchmarks, which showed some impressive results that shouldn't be shoved aside as mere marketing hoopla. (More on that in a minute.) New Day, New Power Definitions Editor's Note: Intel has released a statement regarding Denuvo functionality on Intel 12th Gen processors. Workarounds are coming, but no determinate figure on when just yet.) In its current 11th Generation line of H-Series chips, dubbed "Tiger Lake-H," Intel offers only a Corei9-11900H, i9-11950H, and i9-11980HK (for big, powerful laptops that can accommodate them), while Core i7-based machines are more ubiquitous. You'll see Core i7 models flow out in the course of Intel's 11th Generation laptop-CPU launch than i9s, as has been the case in generations past. While Intel's approach to big.LITTLE may be old hat for smartphones and mobile devices, there's a lot of "new" on tap here for the laptop and desktop scene. To compensate for that newness, Intel has worked closely with Microsoft this time around, joint-developing a new scheduler for Windows 11, Intel Thread Director.If you're after the latest Intel CPU and have the budget to spare, the Intel Core i9-12900K is an impressive feat of engineering. This processor has the best single-core performance compared to AMD's flagship offering, but it also costs less (comparing MSRP) and even beats AMD in some multi-task tests. It's been the case for years that more cores and threads don't necessarily lead to better performance and Alder Lake offers further proof through impressive results. As well as this new array of cores and threads, Intel also opened up support for DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 with Alder Lake, snatching the standards lead from AMD. For most people looking for a new processor to build or upgrade a gaming PC, we'd recommend the Core i9-12900K for value and performance. Sure, you lose a few threads to AMD that results in a few losses with multi-core tasks, but Intel makes up for this with unmatched single-core capabilities. As an all-rounder, you can't falter the Core i9-12900K.