Intel Core i7-12700K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

Intel Core i7-12700K

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a high end CPU for desktops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was first announced in November 2021 and offers 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The performance cores (P-cores) support HyperThreading, leading to 20 Threads that can be processed at once. The performance cores can clock with up to 5 GHz (Turbo Boost Max 3.0), the efficiency cores can clock with up to 3.9 GHz. All cores can use 25 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 1.5 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 12700K in our database is way ahead of the Ryzen 7 5800X and the Ryzen 9 3900X, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. Which is a very, very impressive result, as of late 2022.

Power consumption

This Core i7 series chip has a Base power consumption of 125 W, with its highest Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption sitting at 190 W. It might be a good idea to get an AIO cooling solution for a chip this power hungry.

The i7-12700K is manufactured on Intel's fourth-generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for lower-than-average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a fast high-end desktop processor of the Raphael series. It offers 8 cores based on the Zen 4 architecture that supports hyperthreading (16 threads). The cores clock from 4.5 (base) up to 5.4 GHz (single core boost). Compared to the faster Ryzen 9 CPUs (like the 7900X), the R7 offers less cores and slightly lower clock speeds.

The performance of the R7 7700X is clearly better than the old Ryzen 7 of the 5000 generation thanks to the improved architecture and modern 5nm process. Compared to Intels Alder Lake Core i7-12900K the performance is quite similar but stays behind the newer Rocket Lake i5-13600K (multi-threaded).

The Raphael series still uses a chiplet design with two CCD-clusters (each with 8 possible cores, so only one used for the 7700X) in 5nm and an IO-die (including the memory controller and the Radeon Graphics iGPU) in 6nm.