Intel Core i5-12600K vs Intel Core i7-12700K

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i5-12600K CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-12700K
Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i7-12700K

CPU comparison

Intel Core i5-12600K or Intel Core i7-12700K - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core i5-12600K has 10 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.90 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i5-12600K was released in Q4/2021.

The Intel Core i7-12700K has 12 cores with 20 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 5.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-12700K was released in Q4/2021.
Intel Core i5 Family Intel Core i7
Intel Core i 12000 CPU group Intel Core i 12000
12 Generation 12
Alder Lake S Architecture Alder Lake S
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
Intel Core i5-11600K Predecessor Intel Core i7-11700K
Intel Core i5-13600K Successor Intel Core i7-13700K

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i5-12600K has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-12600K is 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-12700K has 12 CPU cores and 20 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-12700K is at 2.80 GHz (3.60 GHz).

10 Cores 12
16 Threads 20
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
Yes Overclocking ? Yes
3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz)
6x Golden Cove
A-Core 3.60 GHz (5.00 GHz)
8x Golden Cove
2.80 GHz (3.60 GHz)
4x Gracemont
B-Core 2.70 GHz (3.80 GHz)
4x Gracemont
-- C-Core --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i5-12600K or Intel Core i7-12700K has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

Intel UHD Graphics 770 GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
1.45 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.50 GHz
11 GPU Generation 11
10 nm Technology 10 nm
3 Max. displays 3
32 Execution units 32
256 Shader 256
64 GB Max. GPU Memory 64 GB
12 DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec AV1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i5-12600K can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 76.8 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-12700K supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 76.8 GB/s.

DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800 Memory DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800
128 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
76.8 GB/s Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s
Yes ECC Yes
9.50 MB L2 Cache 12.00 MB
20.00 MB L3 Cache 25.00 MB
5.0 PCIe version 5.0
20 PCIe lanes 20

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i5-12600K is 125 W, while the Intel Core i7-12700K has a TDP of 125 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

125 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 125 W
150 W TDP (PL2) 190 W
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i5-12600K is manufactured in 10 nm and has 29.50 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-12700K is manufactured in 10 nm and has a 29.50 MB cache.

10 nm Technology 10 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+
LGA 1700 Socket LGA 1700
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q4/2021 Release date Q4/2021
289 $ Release price 409 $
show more data show more data



Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz
1918 (99%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
1939 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R23 (Single-Core) results



Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
17660 (77%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
22812 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core) results



Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz
741 (98%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
757 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R20 (Single-Core) results



Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
6702 (77%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
8750 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core) results



Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz
2472 (98%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
2528 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) results



Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
11991 (85%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
14129 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) results



Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz
1854 (99%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
1872 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core) results



Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
11912 (79%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
14992 (100%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core) results



iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
Intel UHD Graphics 770 @ 1.45 GHz
742 (97%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
Intel UHD Graphics 770 @ 1.50 GHz
768 (100%)
Show all iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS) results



Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
249 (78%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
319 (100%)
Show all Blender 3.1 Benchmark results



Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
27348 (81%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
33955 (100%)
Show all Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark results



CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
766 (97%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
790 (100%)
Show all CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core) results



CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz
5540 (71%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 3.60 GHz
7761 (100%)
Show all CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core) results



V-Ray CPU-Render Benchmark

V-Ray is a 3D rendering software from the manufacturer Chaos for designers and artists. Unlike many other render engines, V-Ray is capable of so-called hybrid rendering, in which the CPU and GPU work together at the same time.

However, the CPU benchmark we used (CPU Render Mode) only uses the system's processor. The working memory used plays a major role in the V-Ray benchmark. For our benchmarks we use the fastest RAM standard approved by the manufacturer (without overclocking).

Due to the high compatibility of V-Ray (including Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, SketchUp, Unreal Engine and Blender), it is a frequently used software. With V-Ray, for example, photorealistic images can be rendered that laypeople cannot distinguish from normal photos.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz
11742 (76%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 3.60 GHz
15450 (100%)
Show all V-Ray CPU-Render Benchmark results



Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz
274 (96%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
286 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R15 (Single-Core) results



Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i5-12600K
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
2596 (78%)
Intel Core i7-12700K Intel Core i7-12700K
12C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
3327 (100%)
Show all Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core) results



Devices using this processor

Intel Core i5-12600K Intel Core i7-12700K
Unknown Unknown

News and articles for the Intel Core i5-12600K and the Intel Core i7-12700K


VS Description of the processor

This comparison should help to decide whether the Intel Core i5-12600K is already sufficiently powerful for your own requirements or whether it should be the Intel Core i7-12700K. Before we get to the performance comparisons, here is a comparison of a few technical details.

Both processors have a similar structure. The models belonging to the twelfth generation of Intel's i processors have for the first time a hybrid core architecture called big.LITTLE. Two different core types are used here. The Intel Core i5-12600K has 6 high-performance cores of the "Golden Cove" type and 4 energy-saving cores of the "Gracemont" type. The Intel Core i7-12700K has 2 more high-performance cores and is therefore equipped with 8 "Golden Cove" cores and 4 "Gracemont" cores.

In addition, the cores in the Intel Core i7-12700K also clock a little higher at up to 5.00 gigahertz, with the Intel Core i5-12600K only reaching a maximum of 4.90 gigahertz. Both processors support Hyperthreading technology, but this is limited to the performance cores. Thus, the Intel Core i5-12600K has 10 cores with 16 threads and the Intel Core i7-12700K has 12 cores with 20 threads. In addition, both processors can be overclocked, which can also be seen from the "K" at the end of the processor designation.

Intel's internal graphics unit called UHD Graphics 770 is used in both processors. The graphics unit from the eleventh generation has 32 execution and 256 shader units and is manufactured using the 10-nanometer process. In the Intel Core i5-12600K, the UHD Graphics 770 clocks at up to 1.45 gigahertz and thus achieves an FP32 computing power (single precision) of 742 GFLOPS. In the Intel Core i7-12700K, the iGPU clocks slightly higher at 1.50 gigahertz, which means that the FP32 computing power is also slightly higher at 768 GFLOPS.

There are no major performance differences between the processors in the single-core benchmarks. In the multi-core benchmarks, however, the i7 shows its strengths and is about 20-25% faster than the i5 processor.

Leaderboards

In our leaderboards, we have clearly compiled the best processors for specific categories for you. The leaderboards are always up to date and are regularly updated by us. The best processors are selected according to popularity and speed in benchmarks as well as the price-performance ratio.


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