Intel Core i7-12700KF
Benchmarks & Specs

The Intel Core i7-12700KF processor is a processor with a hybrid core structure from Intel. It is designed for the upper mainstream area and, with its 12 CPU cores (20 threads), is also suitable for more demanding tasks or PC games. The Intel Core i7-12700KF does not have an integrated graphics unit (iGPU) and is identical to the Intel Core i7-12700K except for this difference.

The hybrid core structure of powerful performance cores and efficient CPU cores has long been known from the smartphone sector, e.g. from ARM processors. Apple also uses this structure in its new M processors for notebooks and desktop PCs. Intel is now entering this segment with the 12th generation of its Core i processors, AMD will only realize this one generation later (Zen 5).

The advantage of a hybrid structure is the space required by the cores within the chip and the significantly optimized energy management, which ultimately also ensures more performance, because the smaller CPU cores can also be used to support the calculation of main tasks. Actually, the energy-efficient CPU cores mostly take care of background tasks of the operating system, while the larger CPU cores are only used when a lot of computing power is really needed.

For the first time, the Intel Alder Lake S processors also support DDR5 main memory in two memory channels up to the DDR5-4800 standard. However, higher clock frequencies of the main memory are also possible outside of the specification and usually run stably. The bandwidth of the working memory is 76.8 GB/s (DDR5-4800) when using the dual-channel mode.

External devices such as fast M.2 SSDs or dedicated graphics cards can be quickly connected to the system with PCIe 5.0 and a total of 20 PCIe lines. Intel has also significantly increased the level 2 and level 3 cache of the processors, so the level 2 cache in the large "Golden Cove" CPU cores has increased by a factor of 5.

• Strong multi-core performance
• PCIe 5.0 support
• Good cache configuration
• Solid performance for gaming and productivity