i7-12700K vs i7-6700

VS

Aggregate performance score

Core i7-6700
2015
4 cores / 8 threads, 65 Watt
5.08
Core i7-12700K
2021
12 cores / 20 threads, 125 Watt
21.78
+329%

Core i7-12700K outperforms Core i7-6700 by a whopping 329% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking1220244
Place by popularity5973
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.0841.84
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7 (Desktop)Intel Core i7
Power efficiency7.3916.48
Architecture codenameSkylake (2015−2016)Alder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)
Release date1 July 2015 (9 years ago)4 November 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$303$409

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i7-12700K has 3774% better value for money than i7-6700.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads820
Base clock speed3.4 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz5 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0DMI 4.0
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s8 × 16 GT/s
Multiplier3436
L1 cache64 KB (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)25 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nm10 nm
Die size122 mm2215.25 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)71 °C72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier-+

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K. 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++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
SIPP++
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
MPX+-
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size64 GB128 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/s76.805 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel HD Graphics 530Intel UHD Graphics 770
Max video memory64 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.15 GHz1.5 GHz
Execution Unitsno data32
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported34
eDP+no data
DisplayPort+-
HDMI+-
DVI+no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096x2304@24Hz4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP4096x2304@60Hz5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096x2304@60Hz7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over VGAN/Ano data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212
OpenGL4.54.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K.

PCIe version3.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes1620

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.

i7-6700 5.08
i7-12700K 21.78
+329%

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.

i7-6700 8074
i7-12700K 34598
+329%

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.

i7-6700 1315
i7-12700K 2555
+94.3%

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.

i7-6700 4193
i7-12700K 13786
+229%

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.

i7-6700 6003
i7-12700K 9305
+55%

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.

i7-6700 24305
i7-12700K 63484
+161%

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

i7-6700 8478
i7-12700K 16827
+98.5%

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.

i7-6700 6.8
i7-12700K 2.66
+156%

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.

i7-6700 9
i7-12700K 38
+333%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i7-6700 802
i7-12700K 3325
+315%

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.

i7-6700 169
i7-12700K 272
+61.4%

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.

i7-6700 1.93
i7-12700K 3.29
+70.5%

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.

i7-6700 4.5
i7-12700K 15.7
+253%

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.

i7-6700 5413
i7-12700K 10389
+91.9%

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.  

i7-6700 51
i7-12700K 179
+252%

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.  

i7-6700 187
i7-12700K 350
+86.5%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.08 21.78
Integrated graphics card 2.60 6.16
Recency 1 July 2015 4 November 2021
Physical cores 4 12
Threads 8 20
Chip lithography 14 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 125 Watt

i7-6700 has 92.3% lower power consumption.

i7-12700K, on the other hand, has a 328.7% higher aggregate performance score, 136.9% faster integrated GPU, an age advantage of 6 years, 200% more physical cores and 150% more threads, and a 40% more advanced lithography process.

The Core i7-12700K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-6700 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-6700 and Core i7-12700K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i7-6700
Core i7-6700
Intel Core i7-12700K
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Community ratings

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