i5-14600K vs i9-12900K

Aggregate performance score

Core i9-12900K
2021
16 cores / 24 threads, 125 Watt
26.11
+6.5%
Core i5-14600K
2023
14 cores / 20 threads, 125 Watt
24.52

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i5-14600K by a small 6% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking185204
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation35.7260.81
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i9no data
Power efficiency19.7718.56
Architecture codenameAlder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)Raptor Lake-R (2023−2024)
Release date4 November 2021 (3 years ago)17 October 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$589$319

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i5-14600K has 70% better value for money than i9-12900K.

Detailed specifications

Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K 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 GHz3.5 GHz
Boost clock speed5.2 GHz5.3 GHz
Bus typeDMI 4.0no data
Bus rate8 × 16 GT/sno data
Multiplier32no data
L1 cache80K (per core)80 KB (per core)
L2 cache1.25 MB (per core)2 MB (per core)
L3 cache30 MB (shared)24 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 i5-14600K 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 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K. 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+no data
Deep Learning Boost++

Security technologies

Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K 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 i5-14600K 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 i5-14600K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4, DDR5DDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size128 GB192 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth76.805 GB/s89.6 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 i5-14600K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported44

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K 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 i5-14600K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212
OpenGL4.54.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K.

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 26.11
+6.5%
i5-14600K 24.52

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
+6.5%
i5-14600K 38948

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
i5-14600K 2806
+5.8%

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 15565
i5-14600K 15956
+2.5%

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
i5-14600K 11396
+15.6%

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
i5-14600K 75358
+4.9%

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
+3.6%
i5-14600K 18096

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
i5-14600K 2.39
+53.1%

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
+11.4%
i5-14600K 41

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
+11.5%
i5-14600K 3640

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
i5-14600K 297
+2.8%

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
i5-14600K 3.58
+2.3%

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
i5-14600K 19.5
+1.3%

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
i5-14600K 209
+4%

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
i5-14600K 411
+12.1%

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
+3%
i5-14600K 11491

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i9-12900K 17776
+1.5%
i5-14600K 17516

Blender(-)

i9-12900K 125
i5-14600K 134
+7.5%

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i9-12900K 2006
i5-14600K 2017
+0.6%

7-Zip Single

i9-12900K 6576
i5-14600K 6910
+5.1%

7-Zip

i9-12900K 97316
+4.4%
i5-14600K 93235

WebXPRT 3

i9-12900K 325
i5-14600K 354
+8.9%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 26.11 24.52
Recency 4 November 2021 17 October 2023
Physical cores 16 14
Threads 24 20

i9-12900K has a 6.5% higher aggregate performance score, and 14.3% more physical cores and 20% more threads.

i5-14600K, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i9-12900K and Core i5-14600K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i9-12900K
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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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