Performance per price, higher is better.
Intel Core i9-12900KF vs AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Price now
575$
Games supported
100%
- Interface
- Core clock speed
- Max video memory
- Memory type
- Memory clock speed
- Maximum resolution
- Interface
- Core clock speed
- Max video memory
- Memory type
- Memory clock speed
- Maximum resolution
Price now
399$
Games supported
100%
General info
Comparing Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 113 | 102 |
| Value for money | 35.48 | 60.24 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Series | AMD Ryzen 9 | Intel Core i9 |
| Architecture codename | Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) | Alder Lake, Golden Cove, Gracemont (2021) |
| Release date | 14 November 2019 (3 years old) | 27 October 2021 (1 year old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $564 |
| Current price | $575 (0.7x MSRP) | $399 (0.7x MSRP) |
Value for money
Technical specs
Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF 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) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 32 | 24 |
| Base clock speed | 3.5 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.7 GHz | 5.2 GHz |
| Bus support | no data | 8 × 16 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 96K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 512K (per core) | 1.25 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 64 MB | 30 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 7 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | 2 x 72 mm + 125 mm (IO-Die) mm2 | 215.25 mm220.5 mm × 10.5 mm |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 100 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | 19,200 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF 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 (Uniprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | AM4 | FCLGA1700 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 125 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | 86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | + |
Security technologies
Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| EDB | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | no data |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF. Depending on the motherboards, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 Dual-channel | DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 51.196 GB/s | 76.8 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF.
| PCIe version | no data | 5.0 and 4.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 20 |
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.
Core i9-12900KF outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 6% in our combined 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%
Core i9-12900KF outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 6% 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%
Core i9-12900KF outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 51% 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%
Core i9-12900KF outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by 40% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 30.92 | 32.88 |
| Recency | 14 November 2019 | 27 October 2021 |
| Cost | $799 | $564 |
| Boost clock speed | 4700 | 5200 |
| Base clock speed | 3500 | 3200 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 125 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF. The differences in performance seem too small.
Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-12900KF, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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.
