The Efficient Cores are built on the Gracemont architecture, whose origins are in the Atom lineup. Traditionally built for lower-power, lower-performance processors, Intel has decided that its Atom architecture may find a use in more powerful processors after all, and the Core i9 12900K features eight Gracemont Efficient Cores in total. Based on our evaluation, the 12900KF's 5.20 GHz single-core max turbo boost frequency is excellent for performance with the latest graphics-intense games. You can maintain these frequencies with a high-end cooler. We've experienced that single-core performance is essential for some games, as many don't take full advantage of multiple cores. Similarly, we have experienced that professional tools depend on high single and multi-core turbo frequencies to maximize their processing speed. We've seen that in terms of power consumption Zen 4 isn't too impressive, typically worse off than Zen 3 when it comes to performance per watt, at least based on our recorded Blender data. The 7900X pushed total system usage to the same level as the 10900K and slightly higher than the 12700K.

Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-12900K CPU for gaming, you can expect excellent game performance with a high-performance CPU cooler.The most notable change of the lot for Intel Alder Lake, though, is the hybrid Core architecture. What this means is that Intel is stuffing all of the K-series 12th Gen chips, those which are arriving at launch, with two types of cores: Performance Cores (P-Cores) and Efficient Cores (E-Cores).

For starters, there's PCIe 4.0 support baked right into the Z690 chipset, up to 12 lanes of it. That accompanies the 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 direct from the CPU, which means you shouldn't end up short of available bandwidth for your GPU and a handful of speedy SSDs. The availability of plenty of bandwidth also ensures there's the potential for plenty of USB ports, although that will depend on your board choice. Though I am missing one benchmark result for Intel's Core i9 12900K: Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. The reason being it doesn't work on Alder Lake, or at least our system and probably a fair few more. As Intel told me, "We are aware of an issue with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and we are working with the game publisher on a fix." Though this does play into the slightly wobbly aspect of Alder Lake at launch.

When it comes to compression work, the 7900X is able to outpace the 12900K, this time winning by a 7% margin, not a massive difference but a win all the same. The 7900X is seen trailing the 7950X by a 12% margin, which is not a bad result all things considered. That's probably going to have an impact on AMD's outlook, as the company no longer has a totally unmatched enthusiast desktop processor. The Core i9 12900K is a match, and it's cheaper, effectively shifting the bar for future enthusiast desktop processors from both companies. For the 12-game average, as expected the 7900X matched the 7950X making it a fraction faster than the 6-core 7600X overall and a mere frame slower than the 12900K, in other words the same performance as the Core i9. That was expected given what we've seen so far.

This article evaluates Intel's Core i9-12900KF desktop CPU. We evaluated Intel's Core i9-12900KF and compared it to others to determine which provides the best value as a gaming CPU. We shaped our testing methodology to focus on each CPU's attributes rather than solely on benchmarks.

Intel® Deep Learning Boost (Intel® DL Boost)

Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-12900KF CPU for general apps, you can expect excellent app performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. Time for the value analysis and as we found with the 7950X, the 7900X is overkill for gamers and largely a waste of money if all you plan on doing is gaming. Intel's Core i9-12900K CPUs have 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 8 Efficiency cores (E-cores) for a total of 16 cores. The Core i9 12900K represents the very best in Intel's desktop 12th Generation processors, and what that means is it houses the Alder Lake architecture in its most performant form. At its simplest, that equates to more cores, more speed, and more bandwidth than ever before, but if you dig beneath the surface you'll find a chip architecture that is wildly different to what came before. There are also still some finer points to work out with Alder Lake as I write this, though it's been less hit-or-miss in testing than I had expected it to be at times during its development and unveiling. Ultimately, though, it feels like Intel has made forward progress with Alder Lake, and that can only be a good thing for our gaming PCs. More competition begets more aggressive prices, more competitive feature sets, and faster adoption of up-to-date standards.

Turbo boost frequencies are only achieved under ideal circumstances. However, with adequate cooling, you may be able to maintain speeds near the max boost frequency.At least AMD's AM4 platform offers plenty of cheaper motherboards today, something we may have to wait around for a bit longer to see from Intel's board partners. The 7900X nudged ahead of the 7950X in Watch Dogs Legion, though overall performance was much the same, coming in just 2% slower than the Core i9-12900K. From a gamer's point of view, the Core i9 12900K can deliver the performance to game, stream, capture, and more, all at once. Though it must be said that cheaper chips such as the Core i5 12600K would appear the more sensible buy if you're primarily gaming, since even the Core i5 makes mincemeat of the 11th Gen Core i9 for PC gamers, and will only hinder your graphics card at 4K and beyond as much as most other modern processors.