Today is a busy day for the industry, with Intel's 12th Gen processors now officially available, alongside new DDR5 memory kits and a whole raft of Z690 motherboards. Here we're focusing on the CPUs though, and specifically Intel's new consumer flagship part, the Core i9-12900K. With eight Performance cores and eight Efficiency cores, and a total of 24 threads, has Intel done enough to reclaim the desktop performance crown? https://youtu.be/Xt7yWzu9EQY Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:15 Introduction 01:09 Intel 12th Gen technical details 04:22 Test Setup for Core i9 12900k Review 05:50 DDR4 v DDR5 article 06:33 Windows 11 findings, so far 08:36 System build - finishing up 09:15 MSI Z690 Unify 1.0F BIOS 10:57 In Blender, what does the processor look like? 11:50 Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 7.5.3.3. overclock 12:19 Automatic overclock set - hitting 100c+ 13:05 Leo’s extensive test results 19:05 Gaming test results - is it King? (as Intel claim) 20:52 Performance per £ 21:17 Performance per watt of power 21:38 CPU temperature comparisons 22:00 Power Consumption 22:25 Leo’s Closing Thoughts Intel Slides and Technical Backgrounder We recently covered the technical background to Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs so we will avoid repeating ourselves in this review. If you want to refresh your memory you can find the coverage HERE Features: Intel 7 Process Technology New Processor core architectures Performance hybrid architecture, Performance-Core and Efficient-Core (P-core and E-core) architectures integrated into one processor affording intelligent workload prioritization and management distribution with Intel Thread Director Up to 16 (8 P-Core + 8 E-Core) processor cores and 24 threads Increased L2 Cache and L3 Shared Intel Smart Cache DDR5 Memory support up to 6400MHz, DDR4 up to 4000MHz Testing and Performance Test System: Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K (16 cores/24 threads) CPU Cooler: Corsair H150i Elite LCD Motherboard: MSI Z690 Unify BIOS 1.0F Memory: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 Graphics card: Palit RTX 3080 Gaming Pro 10GB Power supply: Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W SSD: 500GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 M.2 NVMe OS: Windows 11 Testing and Performance - CPU In Cinebench R23 the new Core i9-12900K takes the fight to AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. Despite using a lower number of cores Intel is practically in a dead heat with AMD. The secret to Intel's Multi Core performance is the punch you get from each core. Intel dominates the top of this chart, demonstrating that 12th Gen delivers on IPC despite taking a small step back on clock speed from 11th Gen Rocket Lake. BAPCo CrossMark is a test we have not used before so we cannot yet draw any conclusions, except to say Intel 12th Gen comfortably beats Intel's older CPUs. In Blender the mighty Ryzen 9 5950X holds on to its crown however it is clear that Intel has made significant steps forward and is challenging for the lead. As we explain in our video, we ran Blender a number of times with different core configurations. It is clear from our chart the Performance cores carry the heavy load however you can also see the Efficiency cores play their part and do more work than we had initially expected. Memory Performance In our memory bandwidth the new Intel 12th Gen CPUs running with DDR5-5200 cleanly beat the CPUs running on DDR4-3600. One point of note is that Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 suffer from their single chiplet configuration but that is a side show. DDR5 is brand new and immediately leads the charts by a significant margin. AIDA64 shows that DDR5 memory suffers badly with long latency. This behaviour is expected from the specification as our Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 is rated at 38-38-38-84 compared to the DDR4-3600 which is rated at 16-16-18-36. By our reckoning DDR5 will need to run at 8,000MT to claim an undisputed lead over high quality DDR4. Gaming Performance - Deus Ex and Watch Dogs: Legion In these two games the new Intel CPU scores very well at 1080p and tops the charts. At 1440p we see results that are less clear but the fact is most of the CPUs achieve very similar frame rates so there are no real winners or losers. Gaming Performance - Far Cry 6 and 3DMark In Far Cry 6 and the CPU test in 3DMark Time Spy we see Core i9-12900K at the top of the charts, exactly as Intel predicted. Power Consumption and Temperature This is the down side to Intel Alder Lake. Despite the new Intel 7 process and new architecture we continue to see very high power draw and significant temperatures. We can only hope Intel will make progress in this department in the next year or two. Intel's 12th Generation Alder Lake has been rolling slowly towards us for the past six months and we have been bombarded by more leaks and performance claims than we can remember for a new CPU. Cynics might suggest this was all part of a move to help us forget about Core i9-11900K and if that is the case we totally understand the thinking. The arrival of Core i9-12900K is much more than a simple update to an existing CPU technology as we are working with a new Intel fabrication process, a new Hybrid Architecture, DDR5 memory and Microsoft Windows 11. Luke has analysed the differences between DDR4 and DDR5 and we have taken the plunge and tested Core i9-12900K on Windows 11 so we can see Intel Thread Director in action. When you add all these factors together the net result is that Intel tops the performance charts and has delivered storming performance, especially in games. It sounds slightly ridiculous to say that Intel is back and is now able to compete with AMD. Intel is a colossus and AMD is relatively small, however we all know that Intel has been stuck on 14nm for many years and has been unable to roll forward with their new architecture. 12th Gen Alder Lake works well and delivers impressive performance but the the key point is that 12th Gen is the beginning of something new and almost makes a break from the past. We say 'almost' because Intel still uses far too much power and their quest for 5GHz+ clock speeds drives their CPUs to the thermal limits. We hope that 13th Gen and 14th in combination with the next fabrication processes allows Intel to fix this glaring problem. For the time being we are happy to applaud the performance of Core i9-12900K but as we explain in our video this particular model is overshadowed by the cheaper Core i5-12600K. Welcome back Intel, you have made it through dark times. The Intel Core i9-12900K is available from Overclockers UK for £599.99 HERE. Discuss on our Facebook page HERE. See our i5-12600K review HERE. Pros: Storming gaming performance. Good productivity performance that is close to Ryzen 9 5950X. Intel has finally moved on from its 14nm process. Intel’s Performance Hybrid architecture is a major change of direction. Support for PCI Express Gen 5. Cons: Power draw is high and efficiency is unimpressive. DDR5 is brand new and will take time to improve. High cost for the new platform. Windows 10 performance is unpredictable. Best to use Windows 11. There is minimal potential for overclocking with conventional cooling. KitGuru says: Intel made bold claims ahead of the launch of Core i9-12900K and it has delivered in an impressive manner.