- In this article…
- 1. Price
- 2. Specs
- 3. Performance
- 4. You might like
Intel is set to launch its new 12th generation of desktop processors very soon, with the Intel Core i9-12900K being the most powerful of the bunch. But how does it compare to the existing Intel Core i9-11900K chip?
While we haven’t been able to test the new 12th generation processor just yet, we’ve dug into the specs to see how they compare to 11th gen. Here’s everything you need to know.
Price
Intel is yet to reveal the price for the Intel Core i9-12900K, but a leaked retail listing has indicated that it could cost $669.99.
That’s a big price jump from the Intel Core i9-11900K, which launched with a $539 price. You can currently purchase it for £529.99 at retailers such as Overclockers. There’s a chance that we could see a price drop with the launch of the 12th gen, but we’re not optimistic considering it only launched a few months ago.
Specs
Intel’s new 12th gen chips use a 10nm Enhanced SuperFin process. The company is referring to this new node as ‘Intel 7’. The 11th Gen chips use a larger 14nm process, which means it can’t fit quite as many transistors as its newest siblings.
Intel Alder Lake (12th Gen) also uses a new ‘performance hybrid’ architecture, which means Intel is able to use different kinds of cores on a single chip. This isn’t too dissimilar to Apple’s own processors, as Intel can use both P-cores (performance cores) and E-Core (efficiency cores) that allow Intel to find the perfect balance between performance and power consumption.
| Intel Core i9-12900K | Intel Core i9-11900K | |
| Architecture | Alder Lake | Rocket Lake |
| Node | 10nm | 14nm |
| Cores / Threads | 16 / 24 | 8 / 16 |
| Max turbo boost frequency | 5.2Ghz | 5.3GHz |
| Processor base power | 125W | 125W |
The Intel Core i9-12900K features 16 cores and 24 threads. Those 16 cores are made up of 8 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores.
The Intel Core i9-11900K only has 8 cores and 16 threads. Unlike 12th Gen, those cores are all the same, so you’re not getting any hybrid architecture here.
Intel Core i9-12900K also has a max turbo boost frequency of 5.2Ghz, which is slightly less than the max 5.3GHz max speeds of the Intel Core i9-11900K. But with the improved architecture and additional number of cores, you can still expect a beefy performance jump for 12th Gen.
Both processors look to have similar power consumption, sharing a Processor Base Power of 125W.
It’s also worth mentioning that the new Intel Core i9-12900K processor supports DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0, while the Intel Core i9-11900K is limited to DDR4 and PCIe 4.0.
Performance
We haven’t been able to test any of the new 12th processors just yet, but Intel has claimed the Intel i9-12900K will be the “world’s best gaming processor”.
Intel claims Alder Lake provides a 19% performance uplift over 11th Gen, with every chip in the new range benefitting from the architecture improvements.
But what about Intel Core i9-12900K specifically? Intel claims its new flagship processor sees a 28% frame rate boost for Hitman 3, 25% improvement for Troy: A Total War Sage and a 17% increase for The RIftbreaker.
Intel also mentioned that the new hybrid architecture allows the Intel Core i9-12900K to better handle multi-tasking, especially when it comes to streaming a game while playing it. In such a scenario, Intel claims that Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord sees a whopping 84% higher FPS performance when using an i9-12900K over an i9-11900K.
The improved multi-core performance also seemingly allows for a boost for content creation applications. PugetBench apparently indicates that the i9-12900K sees a 32% and 36% performance boost for Premiere Pro and Lightroom Classic respectively.
Of course, we’ll make sure to test these performance claims once we get our hands on a review sample, so keep an eye on Trusted Reviews in the coming days.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.