Intel Core i9-12900KS review: 5.5GHz here we go

All hail the mainstream champ. Prepare to pay a king's ransom.

Testing methodology

Intel Premium LGA1700 platform

CPUIntel Core i9-12900KS
Intel Core i9-12900K
Intel Core i5-12600K
Intel Core i5-12400
MotherboardAsus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero (1403 BIOS)
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-4800
Capacity and speed32GB (2x16GB) 40-40-40-76

Intel Mainstream LGA1700 Platform

CPUIntel Core i3-12100F
MotherboardASRock B660 Pro RS
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3200
Capacity and speed32GB (2x16GB) 14-14-14-34
Specific coolingIntel Laminar RM1 in-box heatsink

Intel Premium LGA1200 Platform

CPUIntel Core i9-11900K
Intel Core i9-10900K
MotherboardAsus ROG Maximus XIII Hero
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3200
Capacity and speed32GB (2x16GB) 14-14-14-34

AMD Premium AM4 Platform

CPUAMD Ryzen 9 5950X
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT
MotherboardAsus X570 Crosshair VIII Hero WiFi
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3200
Capacity and speed32GB (2x16GB) 14-14-14-34

AMD Mainstream AM4 Platform

CPUAMD Ryzen 5 3600X
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
MotherboardAsus B550 Prime Plus
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3200
Capacity and speed32GB (2x16GB) 14-14-14-34

Common Components

Graphics cardNvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition (496.13)
SSDCorsair MP600 Pro XT NVMe 1TB
Power supplybe quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (1,000W)
CoolingNoctua NH-D15S
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows 11 64-bit

Software

Blender 2.93.1 – Classroom test
Cinebench R23 single- and multi-core
Geekbench 5.4.1 for Windows x86 64-bit
Keyshot Viewer 10.2.113
AIDA 6.60.5900 memory analysis
3DMark Time Spy default test
PCMark 10 default test
Borderlands 3 – FHD – Badass quality
Far Cry 6 – FHD – Ultra quality with HD textures on
Final Fantasy: Shadowbringers – FHD – Maximum quality
Forza Horizon 4 – FHD – Maximum quality

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Jump to: The Chip | CPU Perf | Mem Perf | Gaming Perf | Conclusion Premium PC gaming receives fresh impetus during 2022 as Intel and AMD release high-performance processors in quick succession. AMD brings forth cache-heavy Ryzen 7 5800X3D on April 20, but Intel...Intel Core i9-12900KS review: 5.5GHz here we go