i9-12900K vs Ryzen 9 3950X

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Aggregate performance score

Ryzen 9 3950X
2019
16 cores / 32 threads, 105 Watt
24.37
Core i9-12900K
2021
16 cores / 24 threads, 125 Watt
26.09
+7.1%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by a small 7% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking210191
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation18.7637.31
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Ryzen 9Intel Core i9
Power efficiency21.9619.75
Architecture codenameMatisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)Alder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)
Release date14 November 2019 (5 years ago)4 November 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$799$589

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

i9-12900K has 99% better value for money than Ryzen 9 3950X.

Detailed specifications

Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K 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)16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Threads3224
Base clock speed3.5 GHz3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed4.7 GHz5.2 GHz
Bus typeno dataDMI 4.0
Bus rateno data8 × 16 GT/s
Multiplierno data32
L1 cache96K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache512K (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache64 MB30 MB (shared)
Chip lithography7 nm, 12 nm10 nm
Die size2 x 72 mm + 125 mm (IO-Die) mm2215.25 mm2"
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors19,200 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K 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
SocketAM4FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)105 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
SIPP-+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+
Precision Boost 2+no data
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4 Dual-channelDDR4, DDR5
Maximum memory size128 GB128 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidth51.196 GB/s76.805 GB/s
ECC memory support++

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card-Intel UHD Graphics 770
Quick Sync Video-+
Clear Video HD-+
Graphics max frequency-1.55 GHz
Execution Units-32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported-4

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4-4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP-5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort-7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX-12
OpenGL-4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K.

PCIe versionno data5.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanesno data20

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 24.37
i9-12900K 26.09
+7.1%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 38715
i9-12900K 41435
+7%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 1730
i9-12900K 2647
+53%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 10784
i9-12900K 15555
+44.2%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 6102
i9-12900K 9859
+61.6%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 53396
i9-12900K 71819
+34.5%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 4.11
i9-12900K 3.66
+12.3%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 44
i9-12900K 46
+4.4%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Ryzen 9 3950X 4002
i9-12900K 4057
+1.4%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 209
i9-12900K 289
+38.3%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 2.37
i9-12900K 3.5
+47.7%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 10.8
i9-12900K 19.3
+78.2%

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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 7409
i9-12900K 11834
+59.7%

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.  

Ryzen 9 3950X 168
i9-12900K 201
+19.6%

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.  

Ryzen 9 3950X 265
i9-12900K 367
+38.4%

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

Ryzen 9 3950X 12363
i9-12900K 17776
+43.8%

Blender(-)

Ryzen 9 3950X 126
+0.9%
i9-12900K 125

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

Ryzen 9 3950X 1306
i9-12900K 2006
+53.6%

7-Zip Single

Ryzen 9 3950X 5340
i9-12900K 6576
+23.1%

7-Zip

Ryzen 9 3950X 99467
+2.2%
i9-12900K 97316

WebXPRT 3

Ryzen 9 3950X 239
i9-12900K 325
+36%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 24.37 26.09
Recency 14 November 2019 4 November 2021
Threads 32 24
Chip lithography 7 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 105 Watt 125 Watt

Ryzen 9 3950X has 33.3% more threads, a 42.9% more advanced lithography process, and 19% lower power consumption.

i9-12900K, on the other hand, has a 7.1% higher aggregate performance score, and an age advantage of 1 year.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Ryzen 9 3950X
Intel Core i9-12900K
Core i9-12900K

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