Sony Playstation 5 vs Intel Core i9-12900K

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Sony Playstation 5 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i9-12900K
Sony Playstation 5 Intel Core i9-12900K

CPU comparison

Sony Playstation 5 or Intel Core i9-12900K - 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 Sony Playstation 5 has 8 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Sony Playstation 5 was released in Q3/2020.

The Intel Core i9-12900K has 16 cores with 24 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 5.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i9-12900K was released in Q4/2021.
AMD Ryzen 7 (67) Family Intel Core i9 (78)
AMD Ryzen 4000G (22) CPU group Intel Core i 12000 (34)
3 Generation 12
Renoir (Zen 2) Architecture Alder Lake S
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor Intel Core i9-11900K
-- Successor Intel Core i9-13900K

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Sony Playstation 5 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.00 GHz (3.50 GHz). The Intel Core i9-12900K has 16 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.20 GHz (5.20 GHz).

Sony Playstation 5 Characteristic Intel Core i9-12900K
8 Cores 16
16 Threads 24
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? Yes
3.00 GHz (3.50 GHz)
8x Zen 2
A-Core 3.20 GHz (5.20 GHz)
8x Golden Cove
-- B-Core 2.40 GHz (3.90 GHz)
8x Gracemont

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Sony Playstation 5 Characteristic Intel Core i9-12900K
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Playstation 5) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
2.23 GHz GPU frequency 0.30 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.55 GHz
1 GPU Generation 11
7 nm Technology 10 nm
1 Max. displays 3
36 Compute units 32
2304 Shader 256
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
8 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.

AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Playstation 5) GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770
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
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Sony Playstation 5 supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i9-12900K can connect up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Sony Playstation 5 Characteristic Intel Core i9-12900K
GDDR6 Memory DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
16 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
448.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 76.8 GB/s
No ECC Yes
-- L2 Cache 14.00 MB
8.00 MB L3 Cache 30.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version 5.0
12 PCIe lanes 20
23.6 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 78.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Sony Playstation 5 has a TDP of 65 W, that of the Intel Core i9-12900K is 125 W.

Sony Playstation 5 Characteristic Intel Core i9-12900K
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 125 W
-- TDP (PL2) 241 W
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Sony Playstation 5 has a 8.00 MB cache, while the Intel Core i9-12900K cache has a total of 44.00 MB.

Sony Playstation 5 Characteristic Intel Core i9-12900K
7 nm Technology 10 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+
BGA Socket LGA 1700
AMD-V, SVM Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux
Q3/2020 Release date Q4/2021
-- Release price 589 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Sony Playstation 5 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.7 stars (9 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Sony Playstation 5 (52%)
Intel Core i9-12900K (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
Sony Playstation 5 (37%)
Intel Core i9-12900K (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
1056 (53%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
1997 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
9625 (35%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
27472 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
992 (50%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
1990 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
6635 (38%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
17595 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
402 (52%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
779 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
3735 (36%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
10511 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
AMD Custom Radeon Graphics (Playstation 5) @ 2.23 GHz
10300 (100%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
Intel UHD Graphics 770 @ 1.55 GHz
794 (8%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
16095 (39%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
40902 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
126 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
1582 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
2560 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
16244 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
364 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
817 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 3.20 GHz
11365 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.20 GHz
294 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
8C 16T @ 3.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
16C 24T @ 5.00 GHz
4111 (100%)

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.
Sony Playstation 5 Sony Playstation 5
3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i9-12900K Intel Core i9-12900K
27,472 CB R23 MC @ 240 W
114 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Sony Playstation 5 Intel Core i9-12900K
Unknown Unknown

News and articles for the Sony Playstation 5 and the Intel Core i9-12900K


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