Core i9-12900K vs Core i9-10980XE

#ad
Buy on Amazon
VS

Aggregated performance score

Core i9-10980XE
2019
18 cores / 36 threads
21.25
Core i9-12900K
2021
16 cores / 24 threads
26.75
+25.9%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 26% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking221156
Place by popularitynot in top-10036
Value for money12.4556.51
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
Seriesno dataIntel Core i9
Architecture codenameCascade Lake-X (2019)Alder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021)
Release date19 October 2019 (4 years old)27 October 2021 (2 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$979$589
Current price$1258 (1.3x MSRP)$478 (0.8x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

i9-12900K has 354% better value for money than i9-10980XE.

Technical specs

Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900K 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 GHz3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed4.8 GHz5.2 GHz
Bus supportno data8 × 16 GT/s
L1 cache64K (per core)768 KB
L2 cache1 MB (per core)4 MB
L3 cache24.75 MB (shared)6 MB
Chip lithography14 nm10 nm
Die sizeno data215.25 mm2"20.5 mm × 10.5 mm
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 i9-12900K 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 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900K. 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++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX+no data
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0++
StatusLaunchedLaunched

Security technologies

Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4DDR4, DDR5
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 i9-12900K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data4

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K.

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
i9-12900K 26.75
+25.9%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 26% 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
i9-12900K 41365
+25.9%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 26% 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
i9-12900K 2623
+66.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 67% 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 12044
i9-12900K 15458
+28.3%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 28% 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
i9-12900K 9859
+25.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 26% 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
i9-12900K 71819
+20.7%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 21% 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
i9-12900K 18753
+32.7%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 33% 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
+30.2%
i9-12900K 3.66

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 30% 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
i9-12900K 46
+18.8%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 19% 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
i9-12900K 4057
+8.4%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 8% 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
i9-12900K 289
+38.9%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 39% 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
i9-12900K 3.5
+48.3%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 48% 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
i9-12900K 19.3
+5.8%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE 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
i9-12900K 11834
+65%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 65% 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
i9-12900K 367
+70.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 71% 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
i9-12900K 201
+27.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Core i9-10980XE by 28% in x264 encoding pass 2.

Gaming performance

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 21.25 26.75
Recency 19 October 2019 27 October 2021
Physical cores 18 16
Threads 36 24
Cost $979 $589
Chip lithography 14 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 165 Watt 125 Watt

The Core i9-12900K is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i9-10980XE in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i9-10980XE and Core i9-12900K, 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 i9-12900K
Core i9-12900K

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
3.9 1400 votes

Rate Core i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.