Core i9-12900KS: The currently fastest gaming CPU

Michael Soldner

With the Core i9-12900KS, Intel is currently preparing for the release of a new CPU that should be of particular interest to gamers. Test samples of the 16-core processor have already been delivered in the USA. As a result, there are now first test reports on the fast Alder Lake CPU from Intel. And indeed, the Core i9-12900KS can hold its own against all other competitors. In return, however, 739 US dollars are due for the selected processor.

Good cooling is extremely important

With its eight performance and eight efficiency cores, the Core i9-12900KS has 24 threads. In addition, there is a boost clock of 5.2 GHz on all cores, and one core can also clock up to 5.5 GHz. As a result, however, the processor places high demands on cooling. Temperatures of around 100 degrees Celsius are not uncommon. Due to the high temperature development, only 4.7 GHz could be achieved on the P-cores, the E-cores only reached 3.2 GHz. If you want to exploit the full potential of the Core i9-12900KS, you have to invest in good cooling. Alternatively, power limits can be activated, which then result in even lower clock rates.

Better than Ryzen 9 5950X

Compared to the Core i9-12900K, the KS model offers 4.0 percent better performance when gaming when including all cores and still 6.8 percent better performance with only one core. In addition, the new Intel CPU offers increased performance even compared to the Ryzen 9 5950X. This is 7.9 percent and 25.9 percent above the AMD flagship.

Ryzen 7 5800X3D is in the starting blocks

With the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, however, AMD wants to launch a new CPU with significantly more cache on April 20th. This processor is also aimed at gamers and could quickly outperform the Core i9-12900KS again.

Geekbench: Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs. Ryzen 7 5800X