AMD Ryzen 9 9950X vs Intel Core i9-12900K

Faster

AMD

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

Overall performance index

94,2

Rank 1 of 27 CPUs tested

Intel

Intel Core i9-12900K

Overall performance index

70,1

Rank 16 of 27 CPUs tested

MSRP US$648

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 34,4% faster on average

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Intel Core i9-12900K

Individual tests: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X wins 25, Intel Core i9-12900K wins 3 (28 shared tests)

Performance by discipline

Gaming (720p) +27,9 % 374,6fps 292,8fps Multi-thread +53,4 % 157,1points 102,4points Single-thread +23,8 % 156,8points 126,6points

Benchmarks

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Intel Core i9-12900K Other tested CPUs Click a row to open the chart with every CPU tested; hover shows the gap in %.

Gaming (720p) – all CPUs tested

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X +27,9 %

Individual results (10 tests)

VR Mark Orange Room 21.219 points 18.147 points +16,9 %

VR Mark Blue Room 6.332 points 6.363 points +0,5 %

Unigine Superposition 1.1 720p Low Punkte 57.239 points 45.316 points +26,3 %

Unigine Superposition720p, Low,FPS 428,1 fps 338,9 fps +26,3 %

Shadow of the Tomb RaiderLite, 720p 323,0 fps 233,0 fps +38,6 %

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark720p, Low 23.660 points 23.095 points +2,4 %

Resident Evil VILLAGE720p, Lite, DX12 413,6 fps 343,9 fps +20,3 %

Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition720p, Low, Moscow 333,5 fps 255,2 fps +30,7 %

Fortnite720p, Low 385,1 fps 508,2 fps +32,0 %

Counter-Strike 2 437,8 fps 372,9 fps +17,4 %

Multi-thread – all CPUs tested

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X +53,4 %

Individual results (17 tests)

7-ZipMIPS) 32 MB 230.436 MIPS 122.953 MIPS +87,4 %

Corona 1.3lower is better 33,0 s 55,0 s +66,7 %

HandBrake4GB Video-> HQ1080P30fpslower is better 611,0 s 815,0 s +33,4 %

WinRAR 6.0164-Bit-Version 53.488 KB/s 34.523 KB/s +54,9 %

Cinebench R15 Multi-Core 6.405 points 4.051 points +58,1 %

Cinebench R20 Multi-Core 16.156 points 10.540 points +53,3 %

3D Mark Time Spy ExtremeCPU 13.323 points 9.159 points +45,5 %

3D Mark Time SpyCPU 16.174 points 18.464 points +14,2 %

3DMark CPU BenchmarkMax Threads 16.513 points 11.769 points +40,3 %

3DMark CPU Benchmark16 Threads 16.910 points 10.311 points +64,0 %

3DMark CPU Benchmark8 Threads 9.451 points 7.731 points +22,2 %

3DMark CPU Benchmark4 Threads 5.038 points 4.139 points +21,7 %

3DMark CPU Benchmark2 Threads 2.596 points 2.111 points +23,0 %

Geekbench 5.5.1 CPUMulti-Thread 25.210 points 18.143 points +39,0 %

POV-Ray v3.7Multi-Thread 13.052 px/s 9.045 px/s +44,3 %

Cinebench R23 n-CoreMulti-Thread 41.428 points –

Geekbench 6.3 CPUMulti-Thread 21.953 points –

Single-thread – all CPUs tested

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X +23,8 %

Individual results (5 tests)

3DMark CPU Benchmark1 Thread 1.309 points 1.063 points +23,1 %

Geekbench 5.5.1 CPUSingle-Thread 2.564 points 2.000 points +28,2 %

POV-Ray v3.7Single-Thread 830,0 px/s 736,0 px/s +12,8 %

Cinebench R23 1-CoreSingle-Thread 2.277 points –

Geekbench 6.3 CPUSingle-Thread 3.463 points –

Price / performance

Each dot is a CPU we tested – the further top-left, the more performance per euro.

Specifications

Key details

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
Architecture	Zen 5	n/a
Codename	Granite Ridge AM5	Alder Lake
Series	Ryzen 9000	Core 12000
Release	August 15, 2024	Q4 2021
Launch MSRP	n/a	US$648
Unlocked multiplier	Yes	Yes

Cores, clocks and cache

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
Cores / threads	16	16
Threads	32	24
Performance cores	n/a	8
Efficient cores	n/a	8
Base clock	4.3 GHz	3.2 GHz
Max boost clock	5.7 GHz	5.2 GHz
L2 cache	16 MB	14 MB
L3 cache	64 MB	30 MB

Power and manufacturing

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
TDP / base power	170 W	125 W
Max turbo power	n/a	241 W
Process	TSMC 4nm FinFET	Intel 7
Max temperature (Tjmax)	95 °C	100 °C

Platform and connectivity

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
Socket	AM5	LGA1700
Memory	DDR5, up to 5600 MT/s	Up to DDR5 4800 MT/s, Up to DDR4 3200 MT/s
Memory channels	2	2
PCI Express	PCIe 5.0	PCIe 5.0 and 4.0
PCIe lanes	n/a	20
Integrated graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics 770

Our measurements

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
System power idle	153.9 W	101 W
System power load	329.9 W	351 W
CPU package idle	60 W	18 W
CPU package load	196 W	212 W
Temperature idle	58 °C	29 °C
Temperature load	77 °C	86 °C
Highest measured clock	5437 MHz	5000 MHz

Test system

	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	Intel Core i9-12900K
Motherboard	BIOSTAR X670E VALKYRE	n/a
Memory	Lexar ARES RGB Black DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR5-6400	n/a
CPU cooler	DeepCool LS720	n/a
BIOS	ComboAM5 PI 1.2.0.2 ( Beta )	n/a
Operating system	Windows 11 23H2	Windows 11 21H2
Settings	DDR5-6400,Chipset Driver 6.07.22.037	DDR5-5200

Buy