Intel Core i5-12600K

The Intel Core i5-12600K is a mid-range CPU for desktops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was first announced in November 2021 and offers 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The performance cores (P-cores) support HyperThreading, leading to 16 Threads that can be processed at once. The performance cores can clock with up to 4.9 GHz, the efficiency cores can clock with up to 3.6 GHz. All cores can use 20 MB Smart Cache. The integrated memory controller supports up to 128 GB DDR5 with 4800 MT/s (dual channel).

Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficiency cores for the best performance.

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and called Intel UHD Graphics 770. It clocks between 300 and 1.45 GHz.

For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost. Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC and AV1 decode in hardware.

Performance

The average 12600K in our database is way ahead of the Ryzen 9 3900 and the Core i9-10900K, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very fast CPU that should have no trouble running triple-A games for at least a couple of years.

Power consumption

This Core i5 series chip has a Base power consumption of 125 W, with its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption sitting at 150 W.

The i5-12600K is built with Intel's fourth generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for lower-than-average, as of mid 2023, energy efficiency.

Codename	Alder Lake
Series	Intel Alder Lake-S
Series: Alder Lake-S Alder Lake Intel Core i9-12900K 3.2 - 5.2 GHz 16 / 24  30 MB L3 Intel Core i9-12900 2.4 - 5.1 GHz 16 / 24  20 MB L3 Intel Core i7-12700K 2.7 - 5 GHz 12 / 20  25 MB L3 Intel Core i7-12700F 3.3 - 4.9 GHz 12 / 20  25 MB L3 Intel Core i7-12700 3.3 - 4.9 GHz 12 / 20  25 MB L3 Intel Core i5-12600K « 2.8 - 4.9 GHz 10 / 16  20 MB L3
Clock Rate	2800 - 4900 MHz
Level 2 Cache	9.5 MB
Level 3 Cache	20 MB
Number of Cores / Threads	10 / 16
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power)	125 Watt
Manufacturing Technology	10 nm
Max. Temperature	100 °C
Socket	LGA1700
Features	DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800 RAM, PCIe 5, Thr. Dir., DL Boost, GNA, vPro Enterp., MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, EIST, TM1, TM2, HT, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 770 (300 - 1450 MHz)
64 Bit	64 Bit support
Architecture	x86
Starting Price	$289 U.S.
Announcement Date	11/05/2021
Product Link (external)	ark.intel.com

Benchmarks