Intel Core i5 12600K vs Apple M3
58
out of 100
VS
65
out of 100
We compared two CPUs: the 3.7 GHz Intel Core i5 12600K (desktop) with 10-cores against the 4.05 GHz Apple M3 (laptop) with 8-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
Review
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the DeviceFacts Score for desktop CPU.
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of Intel Core i5 12600K
- Supports up to 128 GB DDR5-4800 RAM
- Unlocked multiplier
- Has 2 more physical cores
- Newer PCI Express version β 5.0
Advantages of Apple M3
- More powerful Apple M3 GPU integrated graphics: 3.5 vs 0.7 TFLOPS
- More modern manufacturing process β 3 versus 10 nanometers
- Newer - released 2 years later
- Around 25.6 GB/s (33%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- 18% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 3009 vs 2547 points
Test in Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasksCinebench
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
| Cinebench 2026 (Multi) | - | 2341 |
Cinebench Scores (#167th place)
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
| File compression | 822.6 MB/sec | 1260 MB/sec |
| Clang compilation | 98.7 Klines/sec | 94.7 Klines/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 261.1 pages/sec | 264.5 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 347.9 Mpixels/sec | 313.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Text processing | 258.5 pages/sec | 297 pages/sec |
| Background blur | 58.9 images/sec | 50.2 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 103.5 images/sec | 114.8 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 22.8 Mpixels/sec | 12.9 Mpixels/sec |
PassMark
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
| Integer math | 87.8 GOps/sec | 42.6 GOps/sec |
| Floating point math | 67.1 GOps/sec | 48.3 GOps/sec |
| Find prime numbers | 90M Primes/sec | 231M Primes/sec |
| Random string sorting | 35.7M Strings/sec | 27.3M Strings/sec |
| Data encryption | 18.4 GBytes/sec | 11.5 GBytes/sec |
| Data compression | 342.8 MBytes/sec | 225 MBytes/sec |
| Physics | 1515 Frames/sec | 1867 Frames/sec |
| Extended instructions | 22B Matrices/sec | 10B Matrices/sec |
Blender
Blender CPU
Performance Per Watt
| Cinebench 2024 / Watt | 7.6 PPW | 35.6 PPW |
| Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt | 97.6 PPW | 590.8 PPW |
| Passmark CPU Mark / Watt | 220.1 PPW | 953.3 PPW |
| Blender / Watt | 1.88 PPW | 8.02 PPW |
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.
Recent User Tests
Intel Core i5 12600K
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2025-12-28 (Jin) | Cinebench 2024 | 108 / 910 |
| π 2025-12-28 (Jin) | Cinebench 2024 | 108 / 906 |
| π 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2668 / 12254 |
| π 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus) | Cinebench 2024 | 118 / 1041 |
| π 2025-12-05 (Kierannosaurus) | Cinebench 2024 | 115 / 1017 |
Apple M3
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-08-22 (doannguyenmfs) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2991 / 11735 |
| π 2026-06-16 (darkknightSup) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2990 / 11498 |
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 12600K and Apple M3General
| Vendor | Intel | Apple |
| Released | October 27, 2021 | October 30, 2023 |
| Type | Desktop | Laptop |
| Instruction Set | x86-64 | ARMv8 |
| Codename | Alder Lake | Apple M3 |
| Model number | i5-12600K | - |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 770 | Apple M3 GPU |
| Rival Equivalent | - AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | - |
| Successor | - Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus | - Apple M5 (10-Core) |
Intel CPU rating (#96th place)
CPU
| P-Cores | 6 | 4 |
| P-Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Base Frequency (P) | 3.7 GHz | 4.05 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.9 GHz | - |
| E-Cores | 4 | 4 |
| E-Threads | 4 | 4 |
| Base Frequency (E) | 2.8 GHz | 2.75 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency (E) | 3.6 GHz | - |
| Total Cores | 10 | 8 |
| Total Threads | 16 | 8 |
| Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | - |
| Multiplier | 37x | 40x |
| L1 Cache | 80K (per core) | 192K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 9728K (shared) | 16MB (shared) |
| L3 Cache | 20MB (shared) | - |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | No |
Package
| Transistors | - | 25 billions |
| Fabrication Process | 10 nm | 3 nm |
| TDP (PL1) | 125 W | 20 W |
| Max. Boost TDP (PL2) | 150 W | - |
| Socket | LGA-1700 | Apple M-Socket |
| Peak Temperature | 100Β°C | 100Β°C |
Desktop CPU ranking (#86th place)
Laptop processors ranking (#68th place)
iGPU
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Apple M3 GPU |
| GPU Base Clock | 300 MHz | 500 MHz |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1450 MHz | 1380 MHz |
| Shading Units | 256 | 1280 |
| TMUs | 16 | 80 |
| ROPs | 8 | 40 |
| Execution Units | 32 | 160 |
| TGP | 15 W | 15 W |
iGPU FLOPS
Memory Support
| Memory Types | - DDR5-4800 - DDR4-3200 |
- LPDDR5-6400 |
| Max. Memory Size | 128 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Channels | 2 | 8 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 76.8 GB/s | 102.4 GB/s |
| ECC Support | Yes | No |
Misc
| Official Site | Intel Core i5 12600K official page | - |
| PCI Express Version | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 20 | - |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 8
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