Intel Core i9-12900KS Review – Fast, Juicy, Hot and Dumb

1. Introducing the Core i9-12900KS2. What is a KS? Time to get Testing3. CPU Testing: Cinebench R15 and R234. Testing: Handbrake, 3DMark and Far Cry 65. Games: Watch Dogs: Legion and Marvel's GotG6. Testing: CPU Temperature and Power7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

We fully expected the Core i9-12900KS would draw too much power and produce too much heat, however we did not predict the results that we saw.

Gigabyte fed the CPU with 250W, which is in line with Intel's specification, and the performance was fairly lousy. By contrast MSI slammed the CPU with 305W which overwhelmed our Corsair AIO cooler and required a change to custom loop. That helped the situation and while temperatures were high, we saw decent performance and were reasonably happy with that state of affairs.

Once we dug in and set the Vcore manually and then raised clock speed we saw a different side to the KS. This CPU has the ability to deliver enormous performance and can work very nicely indeed in a high end gaming PC. Clearly you will be spending a tidy sum on your motherboard, graphics card and power supply and will also need to budget for a proper cooling system.

Provided you go all-in you will find the Core i9-12900KS delivers stellar results however the expenditure in time and money, along with the levels of power you require mean this CPU looks more like a white elephant than a practical choice.

You can buy the intel Core i9-12900KS for £749.99 from Overclockers UK HERE.

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Pros:

• Stunning performance.
• Z690 platform with DDR5 can handle almost anything.

Cons:

• So much power, so much heat.
• BIOS support is patchy.
• The value-for-money argument is awful.

KitGuru says: Core i9-12900KS has blazing performance but mainly demonstrates how Intel desperately needs to improve power draw and efficiency.

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