Home > CPU Comparison > Core i7 12700K or Ryzen 9 5900X: what's better?

Intel Core i7 12700K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

64 out of 100
Intel Core i7 12700K
VS
59 out of 100
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Intel Core i7 12700K
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

We compared two 12-core desktop CPUs: the 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 12700K against the 3.7 GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (8)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
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
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the DeviceFacts Score for desktop CPU.
DeviceFacts Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click β€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
75.8
(Good)
Value Index
54.4
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 5900X and 12700K
Advantages of Intel Core i7 12700K
  • Around 29.12 GB/s (61%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • Newer PCI Express version – 5.0
  • Newer - released 1 year and 1 month later
  • 16% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2627 vs 2263 points
  • Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
  • More than 10Β° C higher critical temperature
  • 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.9 GHz vs 4.8 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
  • Has 39 MB larger L3 cache size, helping fully utilize a high-end GPU in gaming
  • More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 10 nanometers

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i7 12700K
vs
Ryzen 9 5900X

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 597 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 4728 -
Cinebench Scores (110th and 112th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Core i7 12700K +16%
2627
Ryzen 9 5900X
2263
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i7 12700K +16%
14714
Ryzen 9 5900X
12701
File compression 1230 MB/sec 1170 MB/sec
Clang compilation 122.3 Klines/sec 126 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 382.6 pages/sec 217.8 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 374.5 Mpixels/sec 362 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 267.6 pages/sec 232 pages/sec
Background blur 55.9 images/sec 38.7 images/sec
Photo processing 98.2 images/sec 85.1 images/sec
Ray tracing 29.6 Mpixels/sec 31.5 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 731 & 441 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i7 12700K +16%
4003
Ryzen 9 5900X
3465
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i7 12700K
34256
Ryzen 9 5900X +14%
38888
Integer math 114.3 GOps/sec 139.7 GOps/sec
Floating point math 87.9 GOps/sec 77.6 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 112M Primes/sec 257M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 45.8M Strings/sec 51.5M Strings/sec
Data encryption 23.4 GBytes/sec 31 GBytes/sec
Data compression 445.1 MBytes/sec 498.8 MBytes/sec
Physics 1773 Frames/sec 1984 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 28.8B Matrices/sec 33.1B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 11963 & 27058 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i7 12700K
309.16
Ryzen 9 5900X +2%
316.84

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 9.6 PPW 11.4 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 117.7 PPW 121 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 274 PPW 370.4 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.47 PPW 3.02 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i7 12700K
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-14 (Melvin Tejada)Cinebench 2026597 / 4728
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-08 (Myla)Cinebench 2026555 / 3917
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-04 (sisham)Cinebench 2024100 / 635
πŸ“˜ 2025-08-22 (Ray)Cinebench 2024115 / 1305
πŸ“˜ 2024-12-19 (Zach Jones)Cinebench 2024114 / 1231
Add View all (10)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-19 (D)Cinebench 202467 / 893
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-02 (Zoli)Cinebench 202493 / 1254
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-12 (Otamatone)Cinebench 202492 / 981
πŸ“˜ 2025-10-08 (aref)Cinebench 202494 / 1015
πŸ“˜ 2025-08-15 (SnakeyB)Cinebench 2024120 / 380
Add View all (12)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 12700K and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

General

Vendor Intel Amd
Released October 27, 2021 October 8, 2020
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Alder Lake Zen 3 (Vermeer)
Model number i7-12700K -
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 770 No
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X - Intel Core i9 11900K
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus - AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
Intel CPU rating (#69th place)
AMD Ryzen CPU ranking (#70th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 12
P-Threads 16 24
Base Frequency (P) 3.6 GHz 3.7 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.9 GHz 4.8 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 4 -
E-Threads 4 -
Base Frequency (E) 2.7 GHz -
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.8 GHz -
Total
Total Cores 12 12
Total Threads 20 24
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 36x 37x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 12MB (shared) 512K (per core)
L3 Cache 25MB (shared) 64MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Transistors - 4.15 billions
Fabrication Process 10 nm 7 nm
TDP (PL1) 125 W 105 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 190 W 142 W
Socket LGA-1700 AM4
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 90Β°C
Desktop CPU ranking (69th and 83rd place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 770 -
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz -
GPU Boost Clock 1500 MHz -
Shading Units 256 -
TMUs 16 -
ROPs 8 -
Execution Units 32 -
TGP 15 W -
iGPU FLOPS
Core i7 12700K
0.8 TFLOPS
Ryzen 9 5900X
n/a
See: Intel UHD Graphics 770 benchmarks

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200		 - DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s 47.68 GB/s
ECC Support Yes Yes

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i7 12700K official page AMD Ryzen 9 5900X official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
433 (59.5%)
295 (40.5%)
Total votes: 728

Competitors

1. Intel Core i7 12700K vs Intel Core i7 12700KF (2)
2. Intel Core i7 12700K vs Intel Core i5 14500
3. Intel Core i7 12700K vs Intel Core i7 14700K (1)
4. Intel Core i7 12700K vs Intel Core i5 13600K (6)
5. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
6. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (5)
7. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs Apple M3
8. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs Apple M2
9. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
10. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or Intel Core i7 12700K?
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Avatar
Just Me December 17, 2022 at 04:46 AM
Kam B, who needs luck? If you read up in the comments, it's already been pointed out the cost for Intel boards is way more expensive than AMD. For the 10'ish percent increase, do you feel 300 to 400 more bucks is a good tradeoff? Looks like you and Intel are the ones needing to hold onto that luck.
+5 Reply
Avatar
Mike December 21, 2021 at 04:26 PM
I'd buy the 5900x if it came down in price to equal the 12700k...which seems to outperform the 5900k...until then they can keep it...price gouging works BOTH ways.
+23 Reply
Avatar
Luden July 14, 2022 at 10:13 AM
It's not just about the CPU when it comes to Cost. Intel's Motherboards have always been a lot more expensive than AMD boards with similar features. So in some ways, the Cost equals out when buying a CPU and MB. I bounce back and forth between Intel and AMD so no fanboy here. These days they will constantly be leap-frogging each other since they don't release new CPU lines simultaneously. One positive thing about AMD is being able to use the same AM4 Motherboard and upgrade to newer CPUs while Intel likes to change their damn socket type a lot more frequently so for some people they would need a new Motherboard as well for an Intel CPU Upgrade. At the moment Intel is in the lead with PCI 5.0 and DDR5 but of course, AMD will be right behind them. There is a lot of Subjectivity for CPUs and what people's needs are but there is also a factual objective side about what CPU is better for the money. I'm a 3D Modeler, Animator, and Unreal 5 hobbyist/developer so for me, having those 24 to 36 cores is extremely valuable, worth paying more, and because it saves me a ton of time in rendering and workflow (like 1000+ hours with my current AMF setup compared to a 11700K. So saving all that time is well worth the cost, by far. But yeah, most people who argue over which is better are Gamers and don't see the value in what certain CPUs do for Productivity/Workstation uses.
+23 Reply
Avatar
Kam B November 26, 2021 at 08:45 PM
Why on the 12700k's Intel Ark website it says that it's a 7 nm processor and not 10 nm someone pls explain.
+23 Reply
Avatar
root November 26, 2021 at 09:07 PM
We've made a mistake, now it's fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.
+13 Reply
Avatar
gamma March 2, 2022 at 12:32 AM
they changed the name of their intel 10nm enhanced fin-fet node to "INTEL 7"
+4 Reply
Avatar
Emre March 6, 2022 at 12:27 AM
Intel just fooling consumers and creating confusion by naming their 10nm process to "Intel 7" it is just branding. There is no meaning of the number 7, it is just a plain 10nm process Intel trying to develop on their mobile cpus for 4 generations. There were 10nm processors on their 8th gen.
+1 Reply
Avatar
Kam B March 24, 2022 at 11:47 PM
Emre, We really got some AMD Fanboys up in here I actually like AMD Graphics Cards more than Nvidia in my opinion, but Intel has the lead right now in performance and what's said is a 10 nm Processor beating a 7 nm processor, even by a tiny bit. To be honest, right now Intel got more Processors at a better value and performance than AMD anyways good Luck.
+11 Reply
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