By now, there isn't anything that we don't know about Intel's forthcoming Core i9-12900KS processor. The special edition Alder Lake chip poses to take the crown from the Core i9-12900K as the best CPU for high-performance gaming.
The Core i9-12900KS has a 3.4 GHz base clock and a 5.2 GHz all-core boost clock on the P-cores. Therefore, it has a 200 MHz higher base and boost clocks compared to the regular Core i9-12900K. However, the slight uplift in clock speeds hints that the Core i9-12900KS probably won't wipe the floor with the Core i9-12900K. The Core i9-12900KS (via Benchleaks ) popped up in Geekbench 5's database today three times, giving us a small preview of the type of performance that we can expect from it. Nonetheless, we recommend the usual dosage of salt regarding leaked benchmarks.
The Core i9-12900KS put up single-core scores between 2,080 and 2,101 points and multi-core scores ranging from 18,962 to 19,010. The scores were within the margin of error since it's the same system that submitted the three entries . The testing was done on an Asus ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming WiFi motherboard and 32GB of DDR5-4800 memory on a 64-bit version of Windows 11 Home.
Intel Core i9-12900KS Benchmarks
| Processor | Single-Core Score | Multi-Core Score |
|---|---|---|
| Core i9-12900KS | 2,080 | 19,010 |
| Core i9-12900K | 1,998 | 17,151 |
| Ryzen 9 5950X | 1,686 | 16,567 |
Scores for the Core i9-12900K and Ryzen 9 5950X are from Geekbench 5's processor database.
In single-core performance, the Core i9-12900KS was up to 4.1% faster than the Core i9-12900K. The Alder Lake chip also outperformed the Ryzen 9 5950X by 23.4%.
When it came to multi-core performance, the Core i9-12900KS beat the Core i9-12900K by 11%. The margin was slightly more significant with the Ryzen 9 5950X, where the Core i9-12900KS surpassed the Zen 3 flagship chip by 14.7%. The Core i9-12900K was very close to catching up to AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 3960X processor. The 24-core monster (19,878 points) outshined the Core i9-12900KS by 4.6% in multi-core performance.
If an early retailer listing is accurate, the Core i9-12900KS could cost upwards of $800. Bottom Line Telecommunications had posted the retail version of the Core i9-12900KS (BX8071512900KSP5) for $791.74. The store currently sells the Core i9-12900K up for $628.05, whereas the Core i9-12900KS represented a 26% increase in pricing. It's a significant premium for just an 11% jump multi-core performance in Geekbench 5. It remains to be seen whether the Core i9-12900KS can provide the same level of performance in other workloads.