Following the huge success of Intel’s Core i9-12900K, the corporate adopted up with a particular version of its flagship chip — the Core i9-12900KS. Clocked 300MHz above the bottom half, it’s a halo product that appears to squeeze probably the most out of Intel’s Twelfth-gen Alder Lake structure.
Intel has skipped these particular version CPUs for just a few generations, and the Core i9-12900KS isn’t an amazing return to type. It’s a problematic CPU with excessive thermal and energy calls for, and in lots of instances, it doesn’t provide a profit over the bottom mannequin.
I’ll cowl the whole lot from specs to benchmarks right here, however ensure to learn our Intel Core i9-12900KS assessment and Intel Core i9-12900K assessment for a full breakdown, and for why we rank the latter chip among the many greatest CPUs you should buy.
Specs
| Core i9-12900KS | Core i9-12900K | |
| Cores | 16 (8 P-cores, 8 E-cores) | 16 (8 P-cores, 8 E-cores) |
| Threads | 24 | 24 |
| Base frequency | 3.4GHz (P-cores), 2.5GHz (E-cores) | 3.2GHz (P-cores), 2.4GHz (E-cores) |
| Max turbo frequency (single-core) | 5.5GHz | 5.2GHz |
| Max turbo frequency (all cores) | 5.2GHz (P-cores), 4GHz (E-cores) | 5.1GHz (P-cores), 3.9GHz (E-cores) |
| Manufacturing course of | Intel 7 | Intel 7 |
| Built-in graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 |
| Reminiscence help | As much as DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 | As much as DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| Intel Sensible Cache | 30MB | 30MB |
| Base energy | 150W | 125W |
| Max turbo energy | 241W | 241W |
Pricing and availability
Intel launched the Core i9-12900K in November 2021 for a listing value of round $589. The Core i9-12900KS arrived in April 2022 for a considerably increased value of $739. These stands out as the costs listed by Intel, however there’s a giant distinction with what you’ll really pay.
The Core i9-12900K runs between $600 and $620, whereas the Core i9-12900KS sells close to $800. There’s a variety of costs, however you may anticipate to pay anyplace from $150 to $200 extra for the KS mannequin.
It’s essential to keep in mind that the Core i9-12900KS is newer, so it’s nonetheless promoting for round $800. I anticipate it’ll turn out to be less expensive over the approaching months, although. On the time of writing, I discovered one in inventory for $780 with a $30 rebate — and that’s lower than two weeks after the CPU launched.
Efficiency
I ran the Core i9-12900KS and Core i9-12900K by way of a collection of benchmarks to see how they maintain up. All of our checks had been run on an open-air check bench with an RTX 3090 graphics card and 32GB of DDR5-6400 reminiscence. I chosen solely an important benchmarks right here, so ensure to learn our full evaluations (linked above) for the complete outcomes.
Beginning with two CPU-focused benchmarks, you may see how little of a distinction there’s between the Core i9-12900KS and Core i9-12900K. In each Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5, the single-core outcomes are so shut that they barely register on the graph. The Core i9-12900KS enjoys a slight 5% uplift in Cinebench, which you’ll simply make up with overclocking.
The variations in our multi-core outcomes are even nearer, however they favor the cheaper Core i9-12900K. In Cinebench, the cheaper half managed almost a 4% lead. Nonetheless, uncooked CPU efficiency is essentially the identical between the 2 chips.
Actual functions present a clearer distinction. In artistic apps like Adobe Premiere Professional and Photoshop, the Core i9-12900KS is sort of a bit quicker than its counterpart. It enjoys almost a 5% enhance in Premiere Professional, whereas sustaining a large 12% lead in Photoshop. These are spectacular good points, but it surely’s essential to keep in mind that they don’t apply throughout all functions.
Gaming is a primary instance of that. My testing revealed solely a 2.2% distinction between the Core i9-12900K and Core i9-12900KS in video games at 1080p. That distinction really favors the Core i9-12900K, with it placing up increased body charges in Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 and Murderer’s Creed Valhalla, whereas barely lagging behind in Forza Horizon 4.
The one gaming benchmark the Core i9-12900KS clearly received was 3D Mark Time Spy, however even then, it was solely a measly 1% quicker. Should you’re involved with gaming, one thing like AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D is your best choice proper now.
Thermals and energy draw
Each the Core i9-12900K and Core i9-12900KS have excessive thermal and energy limits. The quicker KS mannequin is simply hotter and extra power-hungry because of its 300MHz increase.
Throughout a stress check, the Core i9-12900K peaked at 84 levels Celsius, whereas the Core i9-12900KS climbed all the best way to 101 levels. I really had the Core i9-12900KS underneath a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooler — I used a 240mm for the Core i9-12900K — which illustrates how a lot hotter this particular version chip is.
The Core i9-12900KS is hotter, and it attracts extra energy. Each chips have a rated wattage of 241W, however the Core i9-12900KS peaked at 274W in the course of the stress check — and that was with Intel’s energy limits enabled. The Core i9-12900K, however, drew 210W of energy. Eradicating the boundaries, the Core i9-12900K climbed close to 300W, largely matching the particular version with energy and thermals.
The Core i9-12900KS is mainly an overclocked Core i9-12900K, and that reveals up with elevated energy draw and thermals. It additionally means the Core i9-12900KS has much less overclocking headroom until you have chose for elaborate customized liquid cooling or excessive LN2 overclocking.
Save your cash
The Core i9-12900KS isn’t price the additional $200. Though Intel’s Twelfth-gen Alder Lake structure has been a revolution for Group Blue, the Core i9-12900KS is the worst showcase of it. It gives peak efficiency, however these margins are skinny they usually include huge thermal and energy considerations.
However, the Core i9-12900K is a exceptional processor. It’s cheaper than the very best AMD has to supply proper now whereas providing a lot better efficiency. And with a little CPU overclocking, it will probably even put the Core i9-12900KS again as a replacement.
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