i3-1215U vs i7-12700K

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Aggregate performance score

Core i7-12700K
2021
12 cores / 20 threads, 125 Watt
21.78
+219%
Core i3-1215U
2022
6 cores / 8 threads, 15 Watt
6.82

Core i7-12700K outperforms Core i3-1215U by a whopping 219% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking2441029
Place by popularity7317
Cost-effectiveness evaluation41.85no data
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
SeriesIntel Core i7Intel Alder Lake-M
Power efficiency16.4843.00
Architecture codenameAlder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)Alder Lake-U (2022)
Release date4 November 2021 (3 years ago)23 February 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$409no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores12 (Dodeca-Core)6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads208
Base clock speed3.6 GHz1.2 GHz
Boost clock speed5 GHz4.4 GHz
Bus typeDMI 4.0no data
Bus rate8 × 16 GT/sno data
Multiplier36no data
L1 cache80K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache1.25 MB (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache25 MB (shared)10 MB (shared)
Chip lithography10 nmIntel 7 nm
Die size215.25 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration11
SocketFCLGA1700FCBGA1744
Power consumption (TDP)125 Watt15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
FMA++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift++
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring++
Flex Memory Accessno data+
SIPP+-
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+no data
Deep Learning Boost++

Security technologies

Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U are enumerated here.

VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4, DDR5DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size128 GB64 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth76.805 GB/sno data
ECC memory support+-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel UHD Graphics 770Intel UHD Graphics for 12th Gen Intel Processors
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video HD+no data
Graphics max frequency1.5 GHz1.1 GHz
Execution Units3264

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported44

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2160 @ 60Hz4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212.1
OpenGL4.54.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U.

PCIe version5.0 and 4.04.0
PCI Express lanes2020

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i7-12700K 21.78
+219%
i3-1215U 6.82

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i7-12700K 34598
+220%
i3-1215U 10828

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-12700K 2555
+38.6%
i3-1215U 1843

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-12700K 13786
+182%
i3-1215U 4884

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i7-12700K 9305
+18.1%
i3-1215U 7879

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i7-12700K 63484
+227%
i3-1215U 19430

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i7-12700K 2.66
+28.2%
i3-1215U 3.41

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i7-12700K 38
+249%
i3-1215U 11

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i7-12700K 3325
+311%
i3-1215U 809

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i7-12700K 272
+25.1%
i3-1215U 218

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i7-12700K 3.29
+17.9%
i3-1215U 2.79

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i7-12700K 15.7
+35.3%
i3-1215U 11.6

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i7-12700K 10389
+30.8%
i3-1215U 7944

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i7-12700K 179
+258%
i3-1215U 50

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i7-12700K 350
+75.4%
i3-1215U 199

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i7-12700K 14016
+167%
i3-1215U 5259

Blender(-)

i7-12700K 173
i3-1215U 665
+284%

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i7-12700K 1912
+24.2%
i3-1215U 1539

7-Zip Single

i7-12700K 6270
+24.6%
i3-1215U 5032

7-Zip

i7-12700K 73439
+221%
i3-1215U 22883

WebXPRT 3

i7-12700K 304
i3-1215U 312
+2.8%

CrossMark Overall

i7-12700K 1999
+57.8%
i3-1215U 1267

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 21.78 6.82
Integrated graphics card 6.16 5.58
Recency 4 November 2021 23 February 2022
Physical cores 12 6
Threads 20 8
Power consumption (TDP) 125 Watt 15 Watt

i7-12700K has a 219.4% higher aggregate performance score, 10.4% faster integrated GPU, and 100% more physical cores and 150% more threads.

i3-1215U, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 months, and 733.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-12700K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i3-1215U in performance tests.

Note that Core i7-12700K is a desktop processor while Core i3-1215U is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-12700K and Core i3-1215U, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-12700K
Core i7-12700K
Intel Core i3-1215U
Core i3-1215U

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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