i7-12700 vs i9-10900K

Aggregate performance score

Core i9-10900K
2020
10 cores / 20 threads, 125 Watt
14.33
Core i7-12700
2022
12 cores / 20 threads, 65 Watt
19.37
+35.2%

Core i7-12700 outperforms Core i9-10900K by a substantial 35% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking501293
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation14.98no data
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Power efficiency10.8528.20
Architecture codenameComet Lake (2020)Alder Lake-S (2022)
Release date30 April 2020 (4 years ago)January 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$488$349

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores10 (Deca-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads2020
Base clock speed3.7 GHz2.1 GHz
Boost clock speed5.2 GHz4.9 GHz
Bus rate8 GT/sno data
L1 cache64 KB (per core)80 KB (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache20 MB (shared)25 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nmIntel 7 nm
Die size206 mm2215 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)72 °Cno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier+-

Compatibility

Information on Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration11
SocketFCLGA1200FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)125 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
FMA+-
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
SIPP++
Turbo Boost Max 3.0++
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Key++
Identity Protection+-
SGXYes with Intel® MEno data
OS Guard++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 are enumerated here.

VT-d++
VT-x++
EPT++

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200
Maximum memory size128 GB128 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth45.8 GB/s76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card
Compare
Intel UHD Graphics 630Intel UHD Graphics 770
Max video memory64 GBno data
Quick Sync Video++
Clear Video+no data
Clear Video HD++
Graphics max frequency1.2 GHz1.5 GHz
Execution Unitsno data32
InTru 3D+no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported34

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support+no data
Max resolution over HDMI 1.44096 x 2160@30Hz4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDP4096 x 2304@60Hz5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort4096 x 2304@60Hz7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX1212
OpenGL4.54.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700.

PCIe version3.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes1620

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

i9-10900K 14.33
i7-12700 19.37
+35.2%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i9-10900K 22760
i7-12700 30764
+35.2%

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i9-10900K 1775
i7-12700 2413
+35.9%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i9-10900K 9068
i7-12700 11258
+24.2%

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

i9-10900K 8127
i7-12700 9171
+12.8%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

i9-10900K 59368
i7-12700 60892
+2.6%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

i9-10900K 3.58
i7-12700 2.9
+23.4%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

i9-10900K 29
i7-12700 37
+27.2%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

i9-10900K 2533
i7-12700 3151
+24.4%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

i9-10900K 217
i7-12700 272
+25.3%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

i9-10900K 2.56
i7-12700 3.28
+28.1%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

i9-10900K 14.6
+0.7%
i7-12700 14.5

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

i9-10900K 149
i7-12700 172
+15.7%

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

i9-10900K 290
i7-12700 347
+19.9%

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

i9-10900K 9739
+4.4%
i7-12700 9328

Geekbench 5.5 Multi-Core

i9-10900K 11393
i7-12700 14961
+31.3%

Blender(-)

i9-10900K 179
+18.5%
i7-12700 151

Geekbench 5.5 Single-Core

i9-10900K 1428
i7-12700 1924
+34.7%

7-Zip Single

i9-10900K 5811
i7-12700 6292
+8.3%

7-Zip

i9-10900K 69987
i7-12700 78331
+11.9%

WebXPRT 3

i9-10900K 255
i7-12700 314
+23.1%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 14.33 19.37
Integrated graphics card 3.09 6.15
Physical cores 10 12
Power consumption (TDP) 125 Watt 65 Watt

i7-12700 has a 35.2% higher aggregate performance score, 99% faster integrated GPU, 20% more physical cores, and 92.3% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-12700 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i9-10900K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i9-10900K and Core i7-12700, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Core i9-10900K
Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i7-12700
Core i7-12700

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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