Intel Core i9-12900K sample bests the Ryzen 9 5950X

Leaked benchmark results of a qualification sample of the Intel Core i9-12900K reveal the upcoming "Alder Lake-S" packs quite a punch -- at least when compared to AMD's current-gen CPUs.

High performance but high power consumption too

Twitter leaker OneRaichu posted scores of the Core i9-12900K. VideoCardz compared the numbers and concludes that in Cinebench R20, Intel's 12900K seems 26 percent faster in single-threaded and 11 percent faster in multi-threaded than AMD's Ryzen 9 5950X.

The sample of the Core i9-12900K scored 810 points in the single-threaded test and 11600 points in the multi-threaded edition. The bad news is that Alder Lake-S uses a ton of power, it may consume over 200W when it's operating at full Turbo frequency.

Raichu does not want anyone to jump to conclusions just yet. While Intel Core i9-12900K might indeed be faster than Ryzen 9 5950X in some benchmarks, the performance crown will heavily depend on workloads. However, both CPUs should be ‘well-matched’, the leaker claims. Furthermore, he claims that that the processor might reach as high as 200W in full turbo mode, which is to be expected as the processor allegedly features a PL2 value of 228W.

Alder Lake-S is expected to be released later this year. It's the first 10nm desktop processor from Intel and also the first mainstream x86 processor with a hybrid architecture. Alder Lake packs Golden Cove high-performance cores and Gracemont high-efficiency cores. Other novelties include DDR5 and PCI Express 5.0 support.