Core i9-12900 vs Core i9-10980XE

#ad
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregated performance score

Core i9-10980XE
2019
18 cores / 36 threads
21.25
Core i9-12900
2022
16 cores / 24 threads
22.21
+4.5%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 5% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

General info

Comparing Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking224209
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money14.0250.65
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Architecture codenameCascade Lake-X (2019)Alder Lake-S (2022)
Release date19 October 2019 (4 years ago)4 January 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$979$489
Current price$1075 (1.1x MSRP)$395 (0.8x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

i9-12900 has 261% better value for money than i9-10980XE.

Technical specs

Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 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 cores18 (Octadeca-Core)16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Threads3624
Base clock speed3 GHz2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed4.8 GHz5.1 GHz
L1 cache64K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache1 MB (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache24.75 MB (shared)30 MB (shared)
Chip lithography14 nmIntel 7 nm
Die sizeno data215 mm2
Maximum core temperature86 °C100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplierYesYes

Compatibility

Information on Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 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
SocketFCLGA2066FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)165 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX++
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0++
StatusLaunchedLaunched

Security technologies

Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 are enumerated here.

AMD-V+no data
VT-d++
VT-x++
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR5, DDR4
Maximum memory size256 GB128 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidth94 GB/s76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support-+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataIntel UHD Graphics 770
Quick Sync Videono data+
Clear Video HDno data+
Graphics max frequencyno data1.55 GHz
Execution Unitsno data32

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data4

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4no data4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
Max resolution over eDPno data5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPortno data7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXno data12
OpenGLno data4.5

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900.

PCIe version3.05.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanes4820

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.

i9-10980XE 21.25
i9-12900 22.21
+4.5%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 5% based on our aggregated benchmark results.


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.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

i9-10980XE 32861
i9-12900 34342
+4.5%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 5% in Passmark.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i9-10980XE 1574
i9-12900 2473
+57.1%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 57% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

i9-10980XE 12043
i9-12900 13088
+8.7%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 9% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 20%

i9-10980XE 7847
i9-12900 8949
+14%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 14% in Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i9-10980XE 59479
i9-12900 68729
+15.6%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 16% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Benchmark coverage: 19%

i9-10980XE 14129
i9-12900 17464
+23.6%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 24% in 3DMark06 CPU.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 18%

i9-10980XE 2.81
i9-12900 2.67
+5.2%

Core i9-10980XE outperforms Core i9-12900 by 5% in wPrime 32.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

i9-10980XE 38
i9-12900 39
+1.5%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 1% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core.

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i9-10980XE 3744
+13.5%
i9-12900 3299

Core i9-10980XE outperforms Core i9-12900 by 13% in Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 15%

i9-10980XE 208
i9-12900 262
+26%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 26% in Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

i9-10980XE 2.36
i9-12900 3.16
+33.9%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 34% in Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i9-10980XE 18.2
+5.8%
i9-12900 17.2

Core i9-10980XE outperforms Core i9-12900 by 6% in TrueCrypt AES.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i9-10980XE 7172
i9-12900 10739
+49.7%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 50% in WinRAR 4.0.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i9-10980XE 215
i9-12900 310
+44.2%

Core i9-12900 outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 44% in x264 encoding pass 1.

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.  

Benchmark coverage: 13%

i9-10980XE 158
+6.8%
i9-12900 148

Core i9-10980XE outperforms Core i9-12900 by 7% in x264 encoding pass 2.

Gaming performance

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 21.25 22.21
Recency 19 October 2019 4 January 2022
Physical cores 18 16
Threads 36 24
Cost $979 $489
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt 65 Watt

We couldn't decide between Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900. The differences in performance seem too small.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Core i9-10980XE
Core i9-10980XE
Intel Core i9-12900
Core i9-12900

Similar processor comparisons

We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.

User Ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.7 535 votes

Rate Core i9-10980XE on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.8 167 votes

Rate Core i9-12900 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i9-10980XE or Core i9-12900, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.