Intel Core i9-12900KF Desktop Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unlocked  LGA1700 600 Series Chipset 125W

Product Information

AMD has stressed that this behavior is intended and that it's important to note TJMax is the maximum safe operating temperature – not the absolute maximum temperature. In the case of Zen 4, the processors are designed to run at TJMax 24/7 without risk of damage or deterioration. When it comes to compression work, the 7900X is able to outpace the 12900K, this time winning by a 7% margin, not a massive difference but a win all the same. The 7900X is seen trailing the 7950X by a 12% margin, which is not a bad result all things considered. Intel classifications are for general, educational and planning purposes only and consist of Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN) and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers. Any use made of Intel classifications are without recourse to Intel and shall not be construed as a representation or warranty regarding the proper ECCN or HTS. Your company as an importer and/or exporter is responsible for determining the correct classification of your transaction. For starters, there's PCIe 4.0 support baked right into the Z690 chipset, up to 12 lanes of it. That accompanies the 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 direct from the CPU, which means you shouldn't end up short of available bandwidth for your GPU and a handful of speedy SSDs. The availability of plenty of bandwidth also ensures there's the potential for plenty of USB ports, although that will depend on your board choice.

With that said, the Core i9-14900K is in my opinion a really tough sell. There isn’t a lot of real differences between it and the previous gen the Core i9-13900K. It has the same number of cores, the same TDP, the same amount of cache … the only thing it has going for it, is the increased core speed. And I’ve said this already, it’s really just a “refresh” of the previous gen Raptor Lake, but the ability to support higher memory speeds of up to DDR5-8266.Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-12900KF CPU for general apps, you can expect excellent app performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. The Intel Core i9-12900KF's 8 Performance cores have a 3.20 GHz base frequency and support a 5.10 GHz max turbo boost frequency. It appears as though we've reached the limits of the RTX 3090 Ti in Shadow of the Tomb Raider using the highest quality preset at 1080p with all high-end CPUs hitting a wall at around 190 fps. As a result the 7900X is only on par with the 12900K. I'll admit I wasn't always sure about Intel's Efficient Cores. Chip designer Arm has been rolling out big.LITTLE designs for a while, to great success, but primarily in the mobile market where power efficiency equates to longer battery life. Intel intends to bring Alder Lake to mobile, too, so I get that angle, but on the desktop side of things, it didn't first appear that these would be of tremendous value. What is a cluster of small cores, built out of Intel's next-gen Atom architecture, going to deliver a PC gamer like me? For AMD, that would appear to be its 3D V-Cache processors, which it says are already in production and should improve gaming performance by up to 15%. If you scan over my benchmarking numbers, that has the potential to once again give AMD a lead in many games. But these chips are going to have to deliver a significant boost to compete at their current prices, and for once it's AMD in the hot seat to justify its premium pricing rather than the other way around.

In Cinebench R23, there’s a 9% improvement in the multi-core performance, and a 3% improvement in single-core performance over the Core i9-13900K. There I said it! … 3% improvement in single-core performance LOL! As was the case with the 7950X, the 7900X is a bit broken in The Riftbreaker. Realistically it would be able to match at least the 7600X, if not the 7700X, but as we saw with the 7950X this game has an issue with the dual CCD design of the 12 and 16-core models, and this is something AMD is in talks with the developer to try and solve.

Graphics Base Frequency

As we've seen in the previous Zen 4 coverage, Rainbow Six Extraction isn't a great title for AMD's latest, but it's not a bad one either as the 7900X trailed the 12900K by just 4%. Time for the value analysis and as we found with the 7950X, the 7900X is overkill for gamers and largely a waste of money if all you plan on doing is gaming. Based on our evaluation, the 12900KF's 5.20 GHz single-core max turbo boost frequency is excellent for performance with the latest graphics-intense games. You can maintain these frequencies with a high-end cooler. Though I am missing one benchmark result for Intel's Core i9 12900K: Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. The reason being it doesn't work on Alder Lake, or at least our system and probably a fair few more. As Intel told me, "We are aware of an issue with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and we are working with the game publisher on a fix." Though this does play into the slightly wobbly aspect of Alder Lake at launch.