i5-13500 vs i9-12900K

Aggregate performance score

Core i9-12900K
2021
16 cores / 24 threads, 125 Watt
27.10
+30.3%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i5-13500 by a substantial 30% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking184277
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation36.1061.22
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i9no data
Power efficiency19.7729.18
Architecture codenameAlder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)Raptor Lake-S (2023−2024)
Release date27 October 2021 (3 years ago)4 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$589$242

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i5-13500 has 70% better value for money than i9-12900K.

Detailed specifications

Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 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 cores16 (Hexadeca-Core)14 (Tetradeca-Core)
Threads2420
Base clock speed3.2 GHz2.5 GHz
Boost clock speed5.2 GHz4.8 GHz
Bus typeDMI 4.0no data
Bus rate8 × 16 GT/s154 MHz
Multiplier32no data
L1 cache768 KB80K (per core)
L2 cache4 MB1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache6 MB24 MB (shared)
Chip lithography10 nmIntel 7 nm
Die size215.25 mm2"257 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °C72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 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
SocketFCLGA1700FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)125 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500. 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++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift++
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
SIPP++
Turbo Boost Max 3.0+-
Deep Learning Boost++

Security technologies

Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 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 i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4, DDR5DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
Maximum memory size128 GB192 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth76.805 GB/s76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support++

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardIntel UHD Graphics 770Intel UHD Graphics 770
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.55 GHz1.55 GHz
Execution Units3232

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported44

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2160 @ 60Hz4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212
OpenGL4.54.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500.

PCIe version5.0 and 4.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes2016

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.

i9-12900K 27.10
+30.3%
i5-13500 20.80

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.

i9-12900K 41470
+30.3%
i5-13500 31837

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.

i9-12900K 2651
+9.3%
i5-13500 2426

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.

i9-12900K 15548
+26.7%
i5-13500 12276

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.

i9-12900K 9859
+11.1%
i5-13500 8875

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.

i9-12900K 71819
+45.7%
i5-13500 49300

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.

i9-12900K 18753
+26.1%
i5-13500 14875

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.

i9-12900K 3.66
+9.8%
i5-13500 4.02

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.

i9-12900K 46
+60.5%
i5-13500 28

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i9-12900K 4057
+68.7%
i5-13500 2405

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.

i9-12900K 289
+12.9%
i5-13500 256

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.

i9-12900K 3.5
+12.5%
i5-13500 3.11

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.

i9-12900K 19.3
+60.4%
i5-13500 12

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.  

i9-12900K 201
+49.4%
i5-13500 135

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.  

i9-12900K 367
+19.9%
i5-13500 306

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.

i9-12900K 11834
+53.6%
i5-13500 7704

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i9-12900K 17776
+72.2%
i5-13500 10322

Blender(-)

i9-12900K 125
i5-13500 223
+78.8%

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i9-12900K 2006
+11.1%
i5-13500 1805

7-Zip Single

i9-12900K 6576
+11.7%
i5-13500 5887

7-Zip

i9-12900K 97316
+75.3%
i5-13500 55528

WebXPRT 3

i9-12900K 325
+22.2%
i5-13500 266

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 27.10 20.80
Recency 27 October 2021 4 January 2023
Physical cores 16 14
Threads 24 20
Power consumption (TDP) 125 Watt 65 Watt

i9-12900K has a 30.3% higher aggregate performance score, and 14.3% more physical cores and 20% more threads.

i5-13500, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year, and 92.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i9-12900K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i5-13500 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i9-12900K and Core i5-13500, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i9-12900K
Core i9-12900K
Intel Core i5-13500
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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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