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Processors

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Compare CPUs

Pick two processors (or up to four) and see how they differ in specs, price and performance.

CPU 1

AMDRyzen 9 5900X

CPU 2

IntelCore i9-12900

Note. Different sockets (AM4 and LGA1700): they are not interchangeable on the same motherboard. Switching from one to the other means changing the motherboard.

Warning. Different memory types between the CPUs (DDR4 and DDR4/DDR5): the RAM from one will not work with the other.

Note. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X does not include integrated graphics: you need a dedicated graphics card.

Specifications

We highlight the best value in each row with a soft background. A higher or lower value does not mean the processor is better for you: it depends on how you use it.

SpecificationRyzen 9 5900XCore i9-12900
Price
Best price≈ $536.86 (best value in this row)≈ $621.00
Performance per dollar (pts per USD)Data not availableData not available
Processing
Cores1216 (8P + 8E) (best value in this row)
Threads2424
Base frequency3.7 GHz (best value in this row)2.4 GHz
Boost / turbo frequency4.8 GHz5.1 GHz (best value in this row)
L2 cache6 MB14 MB (best value in this row)
L3 cache64 MB (best value in this row)30 MB
L2 + L3 cache70 MB (best value in this row)44 MB
Power and temperature
TDP / base power105 W65 W (best value in this row)
Maximum power (PPT / turbo)Data not available202 W
Maximum temperature (Tjmax)Data not availableData not available
Platform
SocketAM4LGA1700
RAMDDR4DDR4 / DDR5
Official RAM speed3,200 MT/s4,800 MT/s (best value in this row)
PCIePCIe 4.0PCIe 5.0 y 4.0
Integrated graphicsNoIntel UHD Graphics 770
ArchitectureZen 3Alder Lake
GenerationRyzen 5000 series12th Gen Core
ReleaseNovember 2020January 2022
Unlocked multiplierYesNo
Performance scores
gaming score (0-100)Data not availableData not available
productivity score (0-100)Data not availableData not available
single-core score (0-100)Data not availableData not available
multi-core score (0-100)Data not availableData not available
efficiency score (0-100)Data not availableData not available

Still to be verified on the official spec sheet: Ryzen 9 5900X (Base and boost frequencies, Release date (month), Official RAM speed, PCIe version, Maximum power (PPT), Maximum temperature (Tjmax), PCIe lanes, Maximum RAM capacity); Core i9-12900 (Base and boost frequencies, Release date (month), Official RAM speed, PCIe version, Maximum temperature (Tjmax), PCIe lanes, Maximum RAM capacity).

Performance

Scores from 0 to 100 calculated from sourced benchmarks. If there is no real data, nothing is shown.

There are no sourced benchmarks for these CPUs yet

To avoid making up data, the gaming, productivity, single-core, multi-core and efficiency scores will appear once you load real results in src/data/benchmarks.ts, citing the source of each one.

Price and performance

Relative performance (in games) divided by the current price. It is a figure to interpret, not a verdict.

  • Ryzen 9 5900X

    Relative performance
    No data
    Price
    $536.86
    Performance per dollar
    No data

  • Core i9-12900

    Relative performance
    No data
    Price
    $621.00
    Performance per dollar
    No data

The price/performance chart needs a price and benchmarks

It is drawn automatically once the CPU has a dated price (src/data/prices.ts) and performance scores.

Related videos

We couldn't find a video of this exact combination. These include one of the products or cover products of a similar tier: they work as a reference, but FPS depends on the GPU, the games and the settings of each test.

Some results come from an automatic YouTube search: make sure they are what you're looking for.

General features

Visual comparison of the official specifications. It does not measure real-world performance.

  • Ryzen 9 5900X
  • Core i9-12900

Cores

Ryzen 9 5900X12
Core i9-1290016

Threads

Ryzen 9 5900X24
Core i9-1290024

Boost / turbo

Ryzen 9 5900X4.8 GHz
Core i9-129005.1 GHz

L2 + L3 cache

Ryzen 9 5900X70 MB
Core i9-1290044 MB

TDP / base power

Ryzen 9 5900X105 W
Core i9-1290065 W

Relative scale among the selected CPUs (100 = highest value on each axis). These are specifications, not performance.

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Compare processors: specs, price and performance | ZarpaBuild