The Core i9-12900KS, Intel's next flagship desktop CPU, has begun arriving to early customers ahead of the retail embargo. This does not refer to aficionados with close links to the firm, but rather to retailers.
PC enthusiast DAGINATSUKO was able to buy one online for around USD $790 before the retailer they bought from removed the listing. The Core i9-12900KS is a pre-binned 16-core, 24-thread SKU with a 5.5 GHz single-core turbo. This chip has been heavily hyped by Intel since CES 2022, but there is yet to be any confirmation on a release date. With the Ryzen 7 5800X3D now officially launching on April 20th, one would guess that 12900KS launches very soon as well. The CPU raised the base speed of the Performance cores to 3.4 GHz (+200 MHz) and the boost clock to 5.5 GHz (+300 MHz). Furthermore, it has a greater PBP/MTP (base and max power) of 150W (+25W) and 260W (+19W).
| Intel 12th Gen Core Series Alder Lake-S | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | E-Cores | P-cores | L2 + L3 | iGPU | PBP / MTP | MSRP | |
| i9-12900KS | 8P+8E/24T | - | 3.4 / 5.5 GHz | 14 + 30MB | UHD770 | 150 / 260W | - |
| i9-12900K | 8P+8E/24T | 2.4 / 3.9 GHz | 3.2 / 5.2 GHz | 14 + 30MB | UHD770 | 125 / 241W | $589 |
| i9-12900KF | 8P+8E/24T | 2.4 / 3.9 GHz | 3.2 / 5.2 GHz | 14 + 30MB | - | 125 / 241W | $564 |
| i9-12900 | 8P+8E/24T | 1.8 / 3.8 GHz | 2.4 / 5.1 GHz | 14 + 30MB | UHD770 | 65 / 202W | $489 |
| i9-12900F | 8P+8E/24T | 1.8 / 3.8 GHz | 2.4 / 5.1 GHz | 14 + 30MB | - | 65 / 202W | $464 |
According to preliminary testing, Intel's i9-12900KS is 11 percent quicker than the 12900K in Geekbench 5's multi-threaded performance. With single-threaded testing, the performance disparity narrows to 4.1 percent.
Update: Intel's latest flagship desktop CPU, the special edition Core i9-12900KS, is now available on Newegg for USD $799. The device, which is based on the highest bins of the "Alder Lake-S" C0 silicon, has the same configuration as the i9-12900K, with 8 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 30 MB of L3 cache, but faster clock rates. Maximum Turbo Boost rates on the P-cores are 5.50 GHz, compared to 5.20 GHz on the standard i9-12900K. According to the Newegg listing, the i9-12900KS has the same power restrictions as the i9-12900K, with 125 W PBP and 241 W MTP,.
Intel shipping the Core i9-12900KS to customers (updated: selling on Newegg for 800 USD).
