Ultra 5 125U vs i9-12900

Place in the ranking	250	710
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	35.12	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Laptop
Series	no data	Intel Meteor Lake-U
Power efficiency	31.38	69.46
Architecture codename	Alder Lake-S (2022)	Meteor Lake-P (2023)
Release date	4 January 2022 (2 years ago)	14 December 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$489	$363

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U 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 cores	16 (Hexadeca-Core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	24	14
Base clock speed	2.4 GHz	1.3 GHz
Boost clock speed	5.1 GHz	4.3 GHz
L1 cache	80K (per core)	112 KB (per core)
L2 cache	1.25 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	30 MB (shared)	12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	Intel 7 nm	Intel 4 nm
Die size	215 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	100 °C	110 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	72 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U 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 configuration	1	1
Socket	FCLGA1700	FCBGA2049
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	15 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	no data	+
SIPP	+	-
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	+	-
Deep Learning Boost	+	+
Supported AI Software Frameworks	-	OpenVINO™, WindowsML, ONNX RT

Security technologies

Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	+
OS Guard	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4, DDR5	DDR5
Maximum memory size	128 GB	96 GB
Max memory channels	2	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	76.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel UHD Graphics 770	Intel® Graphics
Quick Sync Video	+	+
Clear Video HD	+	no data
Graphics max frequency	1.55 GHz	1.85 GHz
Execution Units	32	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4	4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz	4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz (HDMI 2.1 TMDS) 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz (HDMI2.1 FRL)
Max resolution over eDP	5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz	3840x2400 @ 120Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz	7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	12.2
OpenGL	4.5	4.6

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-12900 and Core Ultra 5 125U.

PCIe version	5.0 and 4.0	4.0
PCI Express lanes	20	12
PCI support	no data	4.0

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.

i9-12900 21.55
+95.7%

Ultra 5 125U 11.01

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.

i9-12900 34226
+95.7%

Ultra 5 125U 17489

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

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

i9-12900 3299
+99.1%

Ultra 5 125U 1657

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.

i9-12900 262
+16.4%

Ultra 5 125U 225