Smart Wizard
Get a complete build plan based on budget and goals.
Build Comparison
Compare complete builds side by side.
Part Comparison
Check specs, price, and value across parts.
Bottleneck Calculator
Measure CPU and GPU balance before you buy.
Power Calculator
Estimate wattage and PSU headroom.
Will It Run?
Test your hardware against popular games.
Smart Wizard
Get a complete build plan based on budget and goals.
Build Comparison
Compare complete builds side by side.
Part Comparison
Check specs, price, and value across parts.
Bottleneck Calculator
Measure CPU and GPU balance before you buy.
Power Calculator
Estimate wattage and PSU headroom.
Will It Run?
Test your hardware against popular games.
Smart Wizard
Get a complete build plan based on budget and goals.
Build Comparison
Compare complete builds side by side.
Part Comparison
Check specs, price, and value across parts.
Bottleneck Calculator
Measure CPU and GPU balance before you buy.
Power Calculator
Estimate wattage and PSU headroom.
Will It Run?
Test your hardware against popular games.
Intel
Detailed architecture, platform, memory, and feature data for this CPU.
Instruction Sets
About This Product
The Intel Core i9-12900KS is a high-performance desktop CPU with 16 cores (8 P-cores, 8 E-cores) and 24 threads, based on the Alder Lake-S architecture. It offers strong single-core and multi-core performance, suitable for demanding applications and high-refresh-rate gaming. At its price point, it competes with AMD's Ryzen 7000 series, offering comparable gaming performance but potentially higher power consumption.
Verdict
βIdeal for enthusiasts seeking top-tier gaming and workstation performance on the LGA1700 platform.β
Performance Benchmarks
Scores are grouped by benchmark family so it is easy to compare raw speed, threaded output, and real-world value without mixing scales.
Render Workloads
Next-Gen Scale
Cross-Platform
Large Sample Pool
Value & Efficiency
These derived metrics use Cinebench R23 multi-core performance to keep the value calculation consistent across the catalog.
Performance per Watt
185.3 pts/W
Performance per Dollar
57.9 pts/$
Popular Comparisons
These pairings are pre-ranked from the comparison engine so readers can jump straight into the most relevant alternatives.

Multi-core 28,905 Β· $499
"6% better single-core, 4% slower multi-core, $118 more expensive"
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GPU Bottleneck & Pairing
These pairings are pre-calculated around 1440p balance so you can move quickly from CPU research to a realistic gaming build.
High-confidence pairings that stay balanced at 1440p.
Recommended GPU
GeForce RTX 5080
Balanced
This pairing stays very close to ideal balance for 1440p gaming.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
GeForce RTX 5080
Balanced
This pairing stays very close to ideal balance for 1440p gaming.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Strong combos with only minor trade-offs.
Recommended GPU
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 12% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
Recommended GPU
Radeon RX 9070 XT
Slight GPU bottleneck
Estimated GPU limitation of 13% in the current 1440p model.
Usage-share data is not available yet for this pairing.
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Multi-core 100,295 Β· $9,999
"8% better single-core, 72% slower multi-core, $230 more expensive"

Multi-core 27,472 Β· $340
"4% better single-core, tied multi-core, $150 more expensive"