Intel Core i9-12900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 3950X

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Price now 498$
Games supported 100%
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
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  • Interface
  • Core clock speed
  • Max video memory
  • Memory type
  • Memory clock speed
  • Maximum resolution
Intel Core i9-12900K
Intel Core i9-12900K
Buy
  • Interface
  • Core clock speed
  • Max video memory
  • Memory type
  • Memory clock speed
  • Maximum resolution
Price now 615$
Games supported 100%

General info

Comparing Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance rating10289
Value for money37.1434.50
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Ryzen 9Intel Core i9
Architecture codenameMatisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)Alder Lake-S (2022)
Release date14 November 2019 (3 years old)5 November 2021 (1 year old)
Launch price (MSRP)$799$589
Current price$498 (0.6x MSRP)$615 (1x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

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Technical specs

Ryzen 9 3950X 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 cores16 (Hexadeca-Core)16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Threads3224
Base clock speed3.5 GHz3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed4.7 GHz5.2 GHz
L1 cache96K (per core)80K (per core)
L2 cache512K (per core)1.25 MB (per core)
L3 cache64 MB30 MB (shared)
Chip lithography7 nm10 nm
Die size2 x 72 mm + 125 mm (IO-Die) mm2215.25 mm2"20.5 mm × 10.5 mm
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors19,200 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen 9 3950X 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketAM4FCLGA1700
Thermal design power (TDP)105 Watt125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoringno data+
SIPPno data+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data+

Security technologies

Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
OS Guardno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K are enumerated here.

AMD-V+no data
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K. Depending on the motherboards, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4 Dual-channelDDR5, DDR4
Maximum memory size128 GB128 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidth51.196 GB/s76.8 GB/s
ECC memory support++

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card--

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K.

PCIe versionno data5.0 and 4.0
PCI Express lanesno data20

Benchmark performance

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


Overall 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.

Ryzen 9 3950X 30.94
i9-12900K 32.99
+6.6%
  • Passmark
  • GeekBench 5 Single-Core
  • GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
  • Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core
  • Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core
  • wPrime 32
  • Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core
  • Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core
  • Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core
  • Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core
  • TrueCrypt AES
  • WinRAR 4.0
  • x264 encoding pass 2
  • x264 encoding pass 1

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: 67%

Ryzen 9 3950X 38994
i9-12900K 41587
+6.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 7% 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: 37%

Ryzen 9 3950X 1678
i9-12900K 2555
+52.3%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 52% 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: 37%

Ryzen 9 3950X 10791
i9-12900K 15181
+40.7%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 41% 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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 6102
i9-12900K 9859
+61.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 62% 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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 53396
i9-12900K 71819
+34.5%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 35% in Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core.

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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 4.11
i9-12900K 3.66
+12.3%

Ryzen 9 3950X outperforms Core i9-12900K by 12% 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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 44
i9-12900K 46
+4.4%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 4% 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: 14%

Ryzen 9 3950X 4002
i9-12900K 4057
+1.4%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 1% 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: 14%

Ryzen 9 3950X 209
i9-12900K 289
+38.3%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 38% 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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 2.4
i9-12900K 3.5
+47.7%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X 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%

Ryzen 9 3950X 11
i9-12900K 19
+78.2%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 78% 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: 12%

Ryzen 9 3950X 7409
i9-12900K 11834
+59.7%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 60% in WinRAR 4.0.

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: 12%

Ryzen 9 3950X 168
i9-12900K 201
+19.6%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 20% in x264 encoding pass 2.

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: 12%

Ryzen 9 3950X 265
i9-12900K 367
+38.4%

Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 38% in x264 encoding pass 1.

Gaming performance

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance rating 30.94 32.99
Recency 14 November 2019 5 November 2021
Cost $799 $589
Boost clock speed 4700 5200
Base clock speed 3500 3200
Chip lithography 7 nm 10 nm
Thermal design power (TDP) 105 Watt 125 Watt

Technical City couldn't decide between

AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Ryzen 9 3950X

and

Intel Core i9-12900K
Core i9-12900K

The differences in performance seem too small.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Competitors of Ryzen 9 3950X by Intel

We believe that the nearest equivalent to Ryzen 9 3950X by Intel is Core i5-13600K, which is slower by 1% and lower by 2 positions in our rating.

Intel Core i5-13600K Core i5 13600K
Compare

Here are some closest Intel rivals to Ryzen 9 3950X:

Core i7-13700 102.13
Ryzen 9 3950X 100

Competitors of Core i9-12900K by AMD

We believe that the nearest equivalent to Core i9-12900K by AMD is Ryzen 9 5900X, which is slower by 6% and lower by 12 positions in our rating.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Ryzen 9 5900X
Compare

Here are some closest AMD rivals to Core i9-12900K:

Ryzen 9 7900 117.94
Ryzen 9 5950X 110.37
Core i9-12900K 100

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 rating

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


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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about Ryzen 9 3950X or Core i9-12900K, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.