Intel Core i5-12600KF vs Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
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CPU comparison with benchmarks
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) | |
CPU comparisonIntel Core i5-12600KF or Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) - 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 i5-12600KF 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 i5-12600KF was released in Q4/2021. The Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) has 16 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.06 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) was released in Q4/2023. |
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| Intel Core i5 (331) | Family | Apple M series (25) |
| Intel Core i 12000 (34) | CPU group | Apple M3 (6) |
| 12 | Generation | 3 |
| Alder Lake S | Architecture | M3 |
| Desktop / Server | Segment | Mobile |
| Intel Core i5-11600KF | Predecessor | Apple M2 Max (30-GPU) |
| Intel Core i5-13600KF | Successor | -- |
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CPU Cores and Base FrequencyThe Intel Core i5-12600KF has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i5-12600KF is 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) while the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) has 16 CPU cores and 16 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) is at 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz). |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Characteristic | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| 10 | Cores | 16 |
| 16 | Threads | 16 |
| hybrid (big.LITTLE) | Core architecture | hybrid (big.LITTLE) |
| Yes | Hyperthreading | No |
| Yes | Overclocking ? | No |
| 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) 6x Golden Cove |
A-Core | 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz) 12x P-Core |
| 2.80 GHz (3.60 GHz) 4x Gracemont |
B-Core | 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz) 4x E-Core |
NPU AI performanceThe performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Characteristic | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| -- | AI hardware | Apple Neural Engine |
| -- | AI specifications | 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS |
| -- | NPU + CPU + iGPU | -- |
Integrated graphics (iGPU)The Intel Core i5-12600KF or Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) 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. |
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| no iGPU | GPU | Apple M3 Max (40 Core) |
| GPU frequency | 0.39 GHz | |
| -- | GPU (Turbo) | 1.40 GHz |
| -- | GPU Generation | -- |
| Technology | 3 nm | |
| Max. displays | 5 | |
| -- | Compute units | 640 |
| -- | Shader | 5120 |
| No | Hardware Raytracing | Yes |
| No | Frame Generation | No |
| -- | Max. GPU Memory | 128 GB |
| -- | DirectX Version | -- |
Hardware codec supportA 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. |
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| no iGPU | GPU | Apple M3 Max (40 Core) |
| No | Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| No | Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) | Decode / Encode |
| No | Codec h264 | Decode / Encode |
| No | Codec VP9 | Decode / Encode |
| No | Codec VP8 | Decode |
| No | Codec AV1 | Decode |
| No | Codec AVC | Decode |
| No | Codec VC-1 | Decode |
| No | Codec JPEG | Decode / Encode |
Memory & PCIeThe Intel Core i5-12600KF can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 76.8 GB/s. The Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) supports up to 128 GB of memory in 4 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 409.6 GB/s. |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Characteristic | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 | Memory | LPDDR5-6400 |
| 128 GB | Max. Memory | 128 GB |
| 2 (Dual Channel) | Memory channels | 4 (Quad Channel) |
| 76.8 GB/s | Max. Bandwidth | 409.6 GB/s |
| No | ECC | No |
| 9.50 MB | L2 Cache | 36.00 MB |
| 20.00 MB | L3 Cache | -- |
| 5.0 | PCIe version | 4.0 |
| 20 | PCIe lanes | -- |
| 78.8 GB/s | PCIe Bandwidth | -- |
Thermal ManagementThe thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i5-12600KF is 125 W, while the Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) has a TDP of 57 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently. |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Characteristic | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| 125 W | TDP (PL1 / PBP) | 57 W |
| 150 W | TDP (PL2) | -- |
| -- | TDP up | -- |
| -- | TDP down | -- |
| 100 °C | Tjunction max. | 100 °C |
Technical detailsThe Intel Core i5-12600KF is manufactured in 10 nm and has 29.50 MB cache. The Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) is manufactured in 3 nm and has a 36.00 MB cache. |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Characteristic | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| 10 nm | Technology | 3 nm |
| Monolithic | Chip design | Chiplet |
| x86-64 (64 bit) | Instruction set (ISA) | Armv8-A (64 bit) |
| SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+ | ISA extensions | Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation |
| LGA 1700 | Socket | -- |
| VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d | Virtualization | Apple Virtualization Framework |
| Yes | AES-NI | Yes |
| Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux | Operating systems | macOS, iPadOS |
| Q4/2021 | Release date | Q4/2023 |
| 264 $ | Release price | -- |
| show more data | show more data | |
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10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz (4.90 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
16C 16T @ 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
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Rate these processors
Average performance in benchmarks
⌀ Single core performance in 6 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 6 CPU benchmarks
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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CPU performance per watt (efficiency)
Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
17,660 CB R23 MC @ 115 W |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
24,028 CB R23 MC @ 57 W |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
@ 0.00 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
Apple M3 Max (40 Core) @ 1.40 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.50 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 3.60 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 4.90 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 4.06 GHz |
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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.
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 0.70 GHz |
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AI performance (NPU)
The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.
Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
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Intel Core i5-12600KF
10C 16T @ 3.70 GHz |
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Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU)
16C 16T @ 0.70 GHz |
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Devices using this processor |
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| Intel Core i5-12600KF | Apple M3 Max (16-CPU 40-GPU) |
| Unknown | Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) |
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