Intel Core i9-12900HK

The Intel Core i9-12900HK is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in early 2022 and offers 6 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 20 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.5 to 5 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.8 to 3.8 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 24 MB L3 cache. As a K-variant, the CPU offers an open multiplicator and therefore the possibility to overclock the CPU cores. Compared to the similar i9-12900H, the 12900HK only offers the "Essentials" features of vPro.

Performance

The average i9-12900HK is one of the fastest mobile CPUs in our testing and only bested by the HX models with higher TDP. The performance depends on the cooling and TDP settings but can on average best a AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX by 11% (at the time of writing, see comparison now). The influence of the laptop cooling can be seen in our database, as a theoretical slower Core i9-12900H is faster on average currently. Still, the CPU is very well suited for all demanding use cases like gaming, content creation, and scientific calculations.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, and LPDDR4x-4267. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). 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. The CPU only supports PCIe 4.0 (x8 for a GPU and two x4 for SSDs).

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 96 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.45 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 45 W base power (115 W PL2) but most laptops will use a PL1 of around 60 Watt. The SoC is manufactured in a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

Series	Intel Alder Lake-P
Codename	Alder Lake-P
Series: Alder Lake-P Alder Lake-P Intel Core i9-12900HK « 1.8 - 5 GHz 14 / 20  24 MB L3 Intel Core i9-12900H 1.8 - 5 GHz 14 / 20  24 MB L3 Intel Core i7-12800H 1.8 - 4.8 GHz 14 / 20  24 MB L3 Intel Core i7-12650H 1.7 - 4.7 GHz 10 / 16  24 MB L3 Intel Core i5-12600H 2 - 4.5 GHz 12 / 16  18 MB L3 Intel Core i5-12500H 1.8 - 4.5 GHz 12 / 16  18 MB L3 Intel Core i7-1280P 1.3 - 4.8 GHz 14 / 20  24 MB L3 Intel Core i7-1270P 1.6 - 4.8 GHz 12 / 16  18 MB L3 Intel Core i7-1260P 1.5 - 4.7 GHz 12 / 16  18 MB L3 Intel Core i5-12450H 1.5 - 4.4 GHz 8 / 12  12 MB L3 Intel Core i5-1250P 1.2 - 4.4 GHz 12 / 16  12 MB L3 Intel Core i5-1240P 1.2 - 4.4 GHz 12 / 16  12 MB L3 Intel Core i3-1220P 1.1 - 4.4 GHz 10 / 12  12 MB L3
Clock Rate	1800 - 5000 MHz
Level 1 Cache	1.2 MB
Level 2 Cache	11.5 MB
Level 3 Cache	24 MB
Number of Cores / Threads	14 / 20
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power)	45 Watt
Manufacturing Technology	10 nm
Max. Temperature	100 °C
Socket	FCBGA1744
Features	Thread Director
GPU	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs ( - 1450 MHz)
64 Bit	64 Bit support
Architecture	x86
Announcement Date	01/04/2022
Product Link (external)	Intel Alder Lake-P i9-12900HK

Benchmarks