DIYIntel82% by Neofiliac Team75% by External Reviewers

Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake

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Product Overview

Intel Core i9-12900K is a flagship 10nm desktop microprocessor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It uses a new-to-x86 "hybrid" architecture with 8 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores in a 16-core, 24-thread setup. At its launch, it has the most extensive support for modern hardware and peripherals in the PC market.
Most notably, the new Alder Lake CPUs support DDR5 and PCIe 5. Thunderbolt 4 is also supported. There is still only 20 PCIe lanes, and those who wish for support for more expansion cards (such as in machine learning applications) have to look for workstation-grade processors instead.
With the efficiency cores taken out, the i9-12900K is suspiciously similar to the i9-11900K otherwise. Still, we cannot discount the added computing power as well as the possibilities to run more efficiently with this hybrid design.
The i9-12900K comes with an integrated UHD 770 GPU with some basic, though hardly exciting, graphics capabilities. Those who do not need it can opt for the i9-12900KF instead. As usual, the "K" designation means that this CPU is unlocked, though in recent years overclocking the CPU is less of a sport than it was two decades ago.
Intel now refers the 10nm process as Intel 7, ostensibly in an attempt to close the "nanometer" gap.

Ratings

What we found

Neofiliac score 82%
Pros
  • 16 cores / 24 threads
  • Supports DDR5 memory
  • ECC memory
  • Has integrated graphics
  • PCIe 5.0 support
Cons

    What external reviewers found

    External score 75%
    Pros
    • Good value for money
    • Excellent performance at 1080p and 4K
    • Great performance for single-threaded workloads
    • Strong overclocking performance
    • High-quality case
    • Competitive performance
    Cons
    • Lacks AVX-512 support
    • Expensive compared to the competition
    • Lackluster performance on Alder Lake platform
    • Power consumption could be better
    • No overclocking

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    Specifications

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    External Reviews

    anandtech[1]

    Reviewer score 76% (normalized by Neofiliac)
    Reviewers from anandtech have found:
    The new memory standard offers a substantial uplift when it comes to memory bandwidth. DDR5 had a minor lead in single threaded tests but in a lot of multithreaded tests, the lead was significant. The Golden Cove core inside Alder Lake has reclaimed the single-threaded performance crown with an uplift in SPEC of 18-20%.
    Pros
    • Great performance for single-threaded workloads
    • Dedicated E-cores
    • Good value for money
    Cons
    • Expensive compared to the competition
    • Lacks AVX-512 support

    digitaltrends[2]

    Reviewer score 73% (normalized by Neofiliac)
    Reviewers from digitaltrends have found:
    The Core i9-12900K boasts a single-core boost of 5.2GHz, which I hit time and again during testing. In a 30-minute AIDA64 stress test, the chip managed an all-core frequency of 4.8GHz, reaching a peak of 84 degrees Celsius while drawing 210W of power. The chip represents a lot of things for Intel, but more than anything, it represents a company that’s ready to get competitive again.
    Pros
    • Competitive performance
    • High power demands
    • Strong overclocking performance
    Cons
    • Power consumption could be better

    pcmag[3]

    Reviewer score 70% (normalized by Neofiliac)
    Reviewers from pcmag have found:
    The Intel Core i9-12900K is an impressive first showing for its desktop processors built off the new 7 Process. For content creators, the cost proposition of 12th Gen perks up, thanks to several outright wins. But on cost of adoption, the percentages are still skewed in AMD's favor.
    Pros
    • Competitive price-per-core for a desktop processor built off Ryzen 9 5950X
    • Competitively priced
    Cons
    • Lackluster performance on Alder Lake platform

    trustedreviews[4]

    Reviewer score 81% (normalized by Neofiliac)
    Reviewers from trustedreviews have found:
    The Intel Core i9-12900K was the most powerful processor in the group test, but only saw marginal gains over its 11th Gen predecessors. It’s certainly a power hog, consuming more power than any of the other processors on test – but it didn’t consume quite as much power as you might expect. You’ll still need a fairly high-spec power supply if you’re going to pair this chip with a high-end power supply. The added outlay of a cooler also pushes up the cost of the chip.
    Pros
    • Extremely powerful
    • Excellent performance at 1080p and 4K
    • High-quality case
    Cons
    • No overclocking

    Also Check

    Product ComparisonProducts in DIYProducts by IntelKeyword alder-lakeKeyword pcie-5

    References

    1. ^ The Intel 12th Gen Core i9-12900K Review: Hybrid Performance Brings Hybrid Complexity. [anandtech].
    2. ^ Intel Core i9-12900K review: Call it a comeback. [digitaltrends].
    3. ^ Intel Core i9-12900K Review. [pcmag].
    4. ^ Intel Core i9-12900K Review. [trustedreviews].

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