Intel's Special Edition i9-12900KS starts selling in the US for $799

Overclock3D.Net | March 25, 2022, 2:22 a.m. | Original

Intel has a new flagship desktop CPU

Published: 25th March 2022 | Source: Newegg US | Author: Mark Campbell

Intel's Special Edition i9-12900KS boosts to 5.5GHz and is shipping for $799

The US retailer Newegg has started selling Intel's new i9-12900KS processor, a "Special Edition" Intel processor that can boost its P-Cores up to 5.5GHz out of the box. This boost clock speed is 300MHz higher than a standard i9-12900K

The "Special Edition" labelling of this processor, and its premium pricing over Intel's standard i9-12900K suggests that Intel's newest i9 will be available in limited quantities. In essence, the i9-12900KS is a highly binned i9-12900K with higher core clock speeds. Owners will be paying to an out of the box overclock, and paying a $200 premium for it.

Below is how the specifications of Intel's i9-12900KS compares to the i9-12900K. As you can see, all clock speeds on the i9-12900KS are higher, but only be a few hundred MHz. In reality, these clock speed differences will have a relatively small impact.

	Intel i9-12900K	Intel i9-12900KS
P-Cores/Threads	8/16	8/16
E-Cores/Threads	8/8	8/8
P-Cores Thermal Velocity Boost Frequency	5.5 GHz	-
P-Cores Turbo Boost 3.0 Frequency	5.3 GHz	5.2 GHz
P-Cores Max Turbo Frequency	5.2 GHz	5.1 GHz
P-Cores Base Frequency	3.4 GHz	3.2 GHz
E-Cores Max Turbo Boost Frequency	4.0 GHz	3.9 GHz
E-Cores Base Frequency	2.5 GHz	2.4 GHz

For those looking for Intel's highest performing desktop processor, the i9-12900KS is the processor for you. That said, the standard i9-12900K will offer users similar performance levels at a much lower price. The i9-12900KS is a product for those that demand to have Intel's highest performing processor.