Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake flagship processor benchmarks leak again, fastest single-threaded chip and on par with AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in multithreaded tests

The latest benchmarks for the flagship Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake processor have been released, and the QS chips show much faster single-thread performance than Rocket Lake while offering multi-core performance comparable to AMD’s flagship Ryzen 5000 processors.

Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake benchmarks show fastest single-thread performance, up to 20% faster than AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

Although we have already seen several benchmarks of the Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake processor, this is the first time that we have seen results from a QS chip that should offer better performance and better overall stability. The tests were performed on a B660 motherboard with DDR4-3600 memory in Gear 1 mode. The benchmarks were disclosed to Bilibili and marked with HXL.

Intel Core i7-12700K 12 Core Alder Lake CPU-z Benchmark Leaked, up to 45% faster than AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and Core i9-11900K

Intel Core i7-12700K processor specifications

The Intel Core i7-12700K processor will offer 8 Golden Cove cores but will reduce the Gracemont cores to 4. This will give a total of 12 cores (8 + 4) and 20 threads (16 + 4). The P (Golden Cove) cores will operate at a base frequency of 3.6 GHz and a maximum boost frequency of up to 5.0 GHz with 1-2 cores active and 4.7 GHz with all cores active while E cores (Gracemont) will run running at 3.8 GHz on 1-4 cores and up to 3.6 GHz when all cores are loaded. The processor will have 25MB of L3 cache and the TDP values ​​are maintained at 125W (PL1) and 250W (PL2).

Before we move on to performance measurements, it is reported that the Intel Core i9-12900K peaked at 250W in the AVX2 mode stress test while operating in temperatures of 108 ° C. It appears that Intel has once again ditched energy efficiency and opted for a brute force approach to tackle AMD’s Ryzen Zen 3 processors. It is also stated that there was an issue with Thermal Velocity Boost on the specific B660 motherboard and the maximum frequency reached is 5.1 GHz (4.9 GHz P-Core and 3.7 GHz E-Core) . Performance was evaluated on Windows 11, but using a better BIOS and DDR5 DRAM would result in slightly better performance.

Power Consumption and Temperatures of Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake Processor:

Intel CEO: AMD has done a solid job but their lead is “over” with Alder Lake Consumer & Sapphire Rapids Server processors

Getting to the benchmarks, first we have the CPU-z results where the Intel Core i9-12900K is 20% faster in single-threaded and almost on par with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. Remember, AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X has 33% higher threads than Intel’s flagship. In Cinebench R20, the Alder Lake chip once again delivers a 20% performance boost in a single thread and similar performance in multi-threaded benchmarks.

This is a very good showcase of the performance that Intel Alder Lake processors have to offer, especially in the single-threaded department, however, those high temperatures and power numbers are cause for concern. The Intel Core i9-12900K is expected to fetch around US $ 550, which should make it US $ 250 cheaper than the MSRP of the Ryzen 9 5950X and the same MSRP as the Ryzen 9 5900X. This could prove to be a great option, but will require a lot of high-end cooling and power equipment to handle it.

Intel Alder Lake Desktop processors will include both DDR5 and DDR4 memory controllers and the 600 series motherboards will also come with specific DDR5 / DDR4 options. High-end motherboards will retain DDR5 while more mainstream offerings will also open support for DDR4. The Intel Alder Lake line of processors is expected to launch in November with the Z690 platform and the respective DDR5 memory kits.

Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake Desktop Specifications “Rumored”

Processor name	Number of P cores	Number of electronic cores	Total core / wire	Base P-Core / Boost (Max)	Boost P-Core (All-Core)	E-Core / Boost base	E-Core Boost (All-Core)	To hide	TDP (PL1)	TDP (PL2)	Expected price (MSRP)
I9-12900K core	8	8	16/24	3.2 / 5.3 GHz	5.0 GHz (all cores)	To be confirmed / 3.9 GHz	3.7 GHz (all cores)	30 MB	125W	228W	US $ 599
Core i9-12900	8	8	16/24	3.2 / 5.2 GHz	4.9 GHz (all cores)	To be determined	To be determined	30 MB	65W	~ 200W	US $ 509
Core i9-12900T	8	8	16/24	TBD / 4.9 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	30 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i7-12700K	8	4	12/20	3.6 / 5.0 GHz	4.7 GHz (all cores)	To be confirmed / 3.8 GHz	3.6 GHz (all cores)	25 MB	125W	228W	$ 429
Core i7-12700	8	4	12/20	3.6 / 4.9 GHz	4.6 GHz (all cores)	To be determined	To be determined	25 MB	65W	~ 200W	US $ 359
Core i7-12700T	8	4	12/20	To be confirmed / 4.7 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	25 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i5-12600K	6	4	10/16	3.7 / 4.9 GHz	4.5 GHz (all cores)	To be confirmed / 3.6 GHz	3.4 GHz (all cores)	20 MB	125W	228W	US $ 279
Core i5-12600	6	0	6/12	3.7 / 4.8 GHz	4.4 GHz (all cores)	To be determined	To be determined	18 MB	65W	~ 200W	US $ 249
Core i5-12600T	6	0	6/12	TBD / 4.6 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	18 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i5-12500T	6	0	6/12	TBD / 4.4 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	18 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i5-12400	6	0	6/12	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	18 MB	65W	~ 200W	US $ 203
Core i5-12400T	6	0	6/12	To be confirmed / 4.2 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	18 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i3-12200T	4	0	4/8	To be confirmed / 4.2 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	12 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined
Core i3-12100T	4	0	4/8	To be confirmed / 4.1 GHz	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	12 MB	35W	To be determined	To be determined