Intel Core i5-12600K Review, Gaming, Applications, Power & Temps

[@martheunen]

Good to see Intel's back in the competition! However, since prices are still crazy and my 4770k@4.4 and 1080TI are still serving me quite decently, I'll at least hold out until AM5 comes out and DDR5 matures. Very interested to see how things will stack up then! Fingers crossed AMD will up the game by then as to keep everyone on their toes!

[@Aries0098]

That's more than decent. I have an old system with a 4690k and an r9 270x and it still plays current games.

[@Illuminacent]

On i7-3770@4.2Ghz all core with 1080Ti, only reason to upgrade is the mobo starting to fail (1 sata conn works out of 6, usb conns also etc.)Still decent for 4k 60 fps gaming if you can live with some compromises like resolution scaling and med-high settings.

[@hunterfabio]

@@Aries0098 The R9 270X is a very good card, very underated, the 2gb of vram sometimes is a pain because it limits you but honestly for what games people actually play, the R9 series were some of the best price performance ever produced gpus.

[@EBMproductions1]

I5 4690 setup here and im happy just need an SSD and better cooling.

[@asianskywalker]

Hanging in there with my 4670k and gtx 1080

[@Ryznstrider]

this makes me excited for the lower i5 in Q1 2022, thanks HUB, technical, precise and informative as always!

[@BlackJesus8463]

12400 with a cheaper chipset is going to make a lot of people happy.

[@highlanderknight]

Thank you for all the hard work with the bench-marking. If I was in the market for a new system, this would be extremely helpful for me, although admittedly, previous past videos helped me decide on a system based around the AMD 5900x which I am very happy with.

[@gusiontrashtalks2819]

Thank you highlanderknight for your support and kind words :)

[@sic22l]

Well stupidly high platform cost means that 12600K with Z690 motherboard and DDR4 RAM costs almost as much as 5900X with a solid B550 mobo.

[@CaptainScorpio24]

im running a i7 7700 non k , 32gb ddr4 2400mhz on msi b250 with RTX 3070 FE powered by CM 650w 80 plus gold PSU , hyper 410r cpu cooler and 6 case fans . which cpu i shud buy ??? and will able to upgrade to raptor n meteor Lake

[@sic22l]

@Black and Red Pill Don't bother with a fresh build when you have a good X570 mobo on hand. That would be a waste of money.

[@thereddog223]

I have the 3700x

[@prokariot1]

The Age of Empires 4 result is the most interesting for me. It makes me wonder, maybe we finally have a CPU that can run the original Crysis and GTA 4 in respectable frame rate. This single core improvement is probably the biggest leap since sandy bridge. I am super happy about it. I am not an intel fan btw.

[@emlyndewar]

Yeah, I’d like to see some older/weirder stuff ran in another video. I’d also like to see what the igpu performs like.

[@frankjohansen3132]

I am still on a i7 2600k, and i guess it`s about time to upgrade to 12600k.

[@goncaloduarte4683]

Single core is also very important for emulation

[@Zenheizer]

@@frankjohansen3132 would be a smooth +10000 jump with the number ;)

[@greenumbrellacorp5744]

yup, that single core perf looks ideal for me, emulation and older-ish games at 240hz ftw

[@wpn]

I’ve been waiting for this one! I can only imagine how many hours you must have worked in the last few days. Thank you Steve!

[@dudanvictor4203]

Yeah! Poor guy, he must've worked really hard ,testing components and editing videos... I'm really impressed!

[@CaptainScorpio24]

im running a i7 7700 non k , 32gb ddr4 2400mhz on msi b250 with RTX 3070 FE powered by CM 650w 80 plus gold PSU , hyper 410r cpu cooler and 6 case fans . which cpu i shud buy ??? and will able to upgrade to raptor n meteor Lake

[@dudanvictor4203]

@@clitmint i was sarcastic.

[@tomx641]

Steve and Tim work standing on their head :)

[@anthonytech]

@@CaptainScorpio24 12600k or 5600X will push the 3070 to it's fullest potential. Also are you willing to go to windows 11, because 12th gen requires it. It's unknown at this time if Microsoft or Intel will patch some of the major performance issues of 12th gen on windows 10. Do you use your PC for productivity, if so the 12600k is your choice.

[@tinyredgiant9915]

Wow, 12600k looks mighty impressive. I’m excited to have the competition trading blows, that bodes well for all of us. Thanks for all the hard work and in depth reviews!

[@nishanthadda8824]

AMD is not making that much leap in atleast 2 generations, fairy tail is over for AMD

[@matasa7463]

@@nishanthadda8824 Lol, there's still the 3D V-cache, don't forget that! I wouldn't be so quick to assume things after seeing the ever forward momentum from before. TSMC 5nm is reportedly Zen 4.

[@chriswright8074]

@@nishanthadda8824 yeah they can remember when the zen 3 launch the 5600x was beating 9th and was given the 10 core a run for it money Intel only winning in workloads because of the odd core configuration even with all that single core performance amd still neck and neck don't sleep on zen

[@codethis2875]

@@nishanthadda8824 what? Zen 4 is huge. 5nm TSMC + huge improvements rumoured at 20% IPC boost. Next year is the time to buy with AM5 and window 11 maturing.

[@ThunderingRoar]

@@nishanthadda8824 Looking at your recent comments "because amd makes products that are trash and overhyped. Intel and nvidia make the best products" and "intel and nvidia should team up to kill amd" you sure arent the sharpest tool in the shed huh?

[@ColdRunnerGWN]

Seems like a great upgrade for content producers, but for gamers, not so much. That said, I'm very happy to see Intel putting pressure on AMD with the pricing. I can only hope they do the same for the GPU market.

[@umeshdhaked7638]

Not buy this cause: No fans with cpu included ( need to buy cooling seperately) high price, low availablity. expensive motherboard (z690).

[@KSMmaster]

@@umeshdhaked7638 High price?! Bruh its one of the cheaper CPUs for performance that outmatches CPUs that cost 50% more.

[@MrUploader14]

@@umeshdhaked7638 what are you talking about? the X570 is comparable to the Z690 in terms of price and intel has released the H670 which is on par with AMDs B550. and all 12th gen I5s come with Intel's new stock cooler, only the I7KF, I7k, I9F and I9KF don't come with a cooler. and Intel's has higher availability than AMD while also being only 10 dollars more in the case of the 12600K and KF and is more comparable to the Ryzen 7 in terms of gaming while the 12600F is about 100 dollars less than the Ryzen 5. and gamers nexus has proven that good DDR4 is as good or better than DDR5 and is cheaper with no performance difference on alder lake.

@@MrUploader14 what the fuck are you talking about, none of them come with a cooler. My 12600k surely didn't.

[@MrUploader14]

@ yes, none of Intel's K SKUs have ever had coolers but the F SKUs do.

[@Rogerkonijntje]

Finally, at least 1 performance part that has healthy competition AND supply

[@jepulis6674]

Now all we need is 100€ oc boards for Intel too.

[@lukethmpsn]

The most important development. As an AMD cpu holder, I am extremely happy to see my 5800x look bad in comparison. AMD will hopefully respond and everything will get better for all consumers. Game developers use the available hardware and IMO, system requirements have lagged because of a lack of competition and the race to 4k, now that those things should be almost done with, gaming should increase the pace of progress!!!

[@Rogerkonijntje]

@@jepulis6674 yeah intel needs to drop K and non K nonsense

[@asdolin42]

@@Rogerkonijntje and AMD needs to release cheaper non X versions as well...

[@Rogerkonijntje]

@@asdolin42 think they will, they just did this one generation i think. i5 and i3 alderlake will destroy their mid and budget marketshare otherwise.

[@eligaller9190]

Fantastic time to be in my lucky position to have a heavily overclocked 4690k in my main rig. Literally everything that has more than 4 cores is an upgrade.

[@DeadpoolPlayz]

Anything that has 4 cores and 8 threads is an upgrade lol

[@vMaxHeadroom]

When the time comes for you to upgrade it will be a massive jump! I loved my 4790K which along with the 4690K were stonking top end CPU's in the day. .Enjoy the upgrade when it comes be in intel or AMD, either will be a huge jump..Just upgraded to the 12700K with a Strix D4 motherboard so got to reuse my DDR4...still the motherboards are awfully expensive and waiting a little or going AMD and B550 would be the way to go...

[@TheDaNuker]

5600X deserves to be knocked off its price point for sure. Platform costs aside (AMD definitely has much cheaper motherboards atm), I'm glad we are seeing more significant upheaval in this segment.

[@Nintenboy01]

if only the same could be said for GPUs

[@ahsanqureshi786]

Alot of people keep bringing platform cost up, but they seem to forget that Z690 platform is better than X570 and B550 in every way.

[@TheDaNuker]

@@Nintenboy01 I really feel you on this man. It's also my main pain right now, whatever savings you make on CPU/platform has to be spent on a massively overpriced GPU. :(

[@Ryzen-gh1en]

@@ahsanqureshi786 but z590 is overpriced and some B550 way more cheaper and why you need a x570 for 5600x that is totally useless

[@ahsanqureshi786]

@@Ryzen-gh1en Lol you get what you pay for, Z690 has far more features than any AMD platform and if I was building a new PC right now I wouldn't buy a dead platform

[@PabzRoz]

In response to Intel AMD dropped the 5800X to $299.99 in the US now thanks to intel. Saw the price drop at my local Microcenter. Dropped from $450 to $299.99 lol can't beat that. Makes going AMD right now a lot more compelling. 5600X dropped to $270 as well but with the 5800X only being $30 more it's a no brainer. 5900X also dropped to 499.99. Thanks Intel!

[@BlackJesus8463]

5600X will be $200 on Black Friday. 100%

[@nongpraduwarrior5375]

Hold out for black Friday If you can. Although idk if 5800x will go any lower lol

[@BlackJesus8463]

@@nongpraduwarrior5375 $250

[@tek1645]

@@nongpraduwarrior5375 I would not wait at all. The 5800x is a steal at $300 and a better deal than alder lake

[@hbk92701]

Saw that too. AMD still will be the value choice since it's gonna cost a bit to get a mobo as well.

[@0Harriz0]

Finally...the CPU war we've been waiting for

[@jaggsta]

Nah 2022 is CPU war.

[@KryssN1]

@@jaggsta exactly my thoughts Zen3d, 13gen and Zen 4

[@andersjjensen]

@@jaggsta No actually 2023 is CPU war. Oh wait, according to the latest batch of leaks it's actually 2024....

[@lonniebeal6032]

We don't need a cpu war, we need a gpu war, cpu pricing is just fine either manufacturer.

[@kochkochkoch]

Honestly the reason I'm loving 12th gen is because I might finally be able to upgrade from my Ryzen 3100 to a 5600X lol

[@chadbizeau5997]

Microcenter had a 5800x for $299. Amazing deal for 8c/16t part and that is the launch price of the 5600x if I recall.

[@shadow7037932]

Wait another month or two to see what the Zen3+ (Zen 3 with VCACHE) will be like. Depending on your workload, one of those Zen3+ maybe a better option.

[@SnifferSock]

@@shadow7037932 from what I just read right now, zen3+ isn't happening...

[@nushydude]

@@SnifferSock where did you read that?

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

@@shadow7037932 most people that bought cheap ryzen chips also bought dirt cheap motherboards who can't run the top-end cpu's at peak performance and many motherboard manufacturers are not even updating the cheap boards firmware to support newer cpus, that is the problem with going cheap (bad vrms and lack of support)

[@dwaynestimpson5449]

While this is an older video, thanks for helping me decide. I was on the fence with going AMD for my new build. I have a 3800X but my wife wants to delve into gaming, so she is getting the 3800. So while pricing is good, I grabbed the 12600k as it is a beast, cheaper and close to a 5800x. Paired with a MSI B660M Mortar and Corsair LPX 32GB DDR 3200, Video card, I pegged a RX6600. Can’t wait to build Saturday.

[@Chris-hw4mq]

Why didnt you get a 12600 with the B660 ?

[@shellwxd]

@@Chris-hw4mq non-K version doesn’t have the efficiency cores.

[@Chris-hw4mq]

@@shellwxd yeah you are right, I taught that he cant overclock it. 12600k stock is a great cpu got one for myself with a msi z690

[@guncolony]

This makes a lot more sense than the i9 due to the reasonable max power draw

[@redsix49]

Just ordered the i5-12600K with the MSI MEG Z690 Unify Been building comps since 89... Gr8 video ... ✌

[@j3y445]

These are some impressive numbers! Its nice that we finally have some competition. I will be keeping my 5950x for the next 4 - 5 years, so no changes for me, but its super cool that intel and amd will finally bring each others prices down.

[@Bot.number.69420]

If you have good cooling on that 5950X adjust pbo power to 235, 225, 225 and put temp limit to 80C. Mine became real monster with those. :P

[@CaptainScorpio24]

im running a i7 7700 non k , 32gb ddr4 2400mhz on msi b250 with RTX 3070 FE powered by CM 650w 80 plus gold PSU , hyper 410r cpu cooler and 6 case fans . which cpu i shud buy ??? and will able to upgrade to raptor n meteor Lake

[@Bot.number.69420]

@@CaptainScorpio24 either 12600k with mobo like aorus elite or amd 5800x and Strix b450 mobo and save some money. I just looked at my local pricing and amd combos are cheap. Also if you do cad or single core loads intel is winner. Both are great. You could also wait for amd next year and maybe then you can decide. Intel has lots of. Bugs with games and programs now with big little stuff.

[@saulohm911]

I’m now glad I waited for the 12900K instead of upgrading to the 5950X

[@yamsbeans]

@@Bot.number.69420 don't get a 450 board

[@osgrov]

That's a really well-rounded CPU, and for a decent price. I've got to say I'm impressed with this. Thanks Steve (& Tim!) for the excellent content! You really are a step above everyone else, and pretty much the only channel I watch these days. :)

[@Andrew-ep9tg]

For someone looking to upgrade for gaming on a budget from something older than AM4, this i5-12600k is an attractive option at $320.

[@RafitoOoO]

It will be a great purchase once ddr5 and mobo prices go down.

[@kashif4463]

Guys is £565 overspending on a gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB GAMING OC PRO. I plan on pairing it with an 11400f or 12400f for 1440p gaming.

[@lldjslim]

AMD just crapped in there pants and are no longer the price/performance kings anymore You can now get a 5600X for $1.00 This really scared the shit out of AMD

[@NadeemAhmed-nv2br]

@@Andrew-ep9tg wait a few months for the cheaper boards

[@depth386]

18:05 Steve lol, after saying “if value is your thing get the 10400F and throw it on the B560M Bazooka” you proceed to display a clip of the *AM4* B550M Bazooka

[@depth386]

@@rawdez_ This is just semantics of how you define “value”. 5800X is definitely not what I would call “value” or “budget”, it’s a beast and it costs quite a bit. Though GPUs are just f*cked now so I guess if you’re gonna build a new system the CPU value proposition doesn’t matter as much these days.

[@depth386]

@@rawdez_ I am a lucky anus, I built a rig in 2019 so I’m doing okay through this crapshow. Now if only I had more time to actually use it…

[@VCRAGE]

@@rawdez_ the tech shortages are now predicted to last into 2023. I'd say bite the bullet if you need something and appreciate it greatly. Life is short and if you need something or want something greatly then enjoy it. Msrp is actually a lie, it was more of a introduction special offer price than true retail when it comes to the GPU market. It was falsely inflated then shortages and demand kicked in. Nvidia are doing dirty moves and reducing production to sell their super range at higher prices when debuting later this year / early 2022. In all honesty, you would not be able to get a gpu even if you wanted at this stage. Sad times man. Hope your rig carries you well.

[@AndyViant]

Just went with 11400f and b560m bazooka. 18% performance upgrade on my overclocked Ryzen 5 2600 on STOCK power settings. Looking forward to overriding the 65w limit to see what she can really do.

[@depth386]

@@AndyViant I’m almost surprised you would upgrade from 2600, that’s still a decent chip. Depends how much AAA you play vs. older titles I guess. I’m glad you’re happy with your upgrade. What GPU? That’s the $1000000 question these days

[@H3LLGHA5T]

I got a great deal for a 5800x now that Adler lake dropped which is pretty nice. Adler lake as a platform is too expensive right now.

[@jaggsta]

New tech always most expensive just like AMD wanting $449 for 5800x at launch.

[@ryanhuang6838]

@@jaggsta the problem is the alder lake motherboards cost an arm and leg as well. It'll improve over time but it does sour the deal

[@priuskiller]

Once MoBos are $160-$210 for the top-tier stuff then we're getting somewhere. I would only recommend the Intel CPU in this video to either fans of Intel or those wanting to make a brand new productivity build with gaming capabilties or vice versa. I'm not in that market but I know there are people that are.

[@AndyViant]

That was why I bit the bullet on an 11400f. Insane bang per buck compared to 5600/12600.

[@zer0sckillz539]

The new Alder Lake parts are definitely impressive. I’m glad that AMD put enough pressure on Intel to actually push out a great performing product that also represents a solid value. That being said, I’ll be sticking with my 5600x I scooped up for $250 and my 3060 ti I snagged for MSRP until I see a substantial jump in performance. Great video and breakdown.

[@danyi4465]

where did u get 3060Ti for MSRP? it costs like 1200$

[@zer0sckillz539]

@@danyi4465 I picked it up at Best Buy when they had a restock back in January 2021. They sold out in a few minutes but I managed to get one of them.

[@danyi4465]

@@zer0sckillz539 Lucky guy! :) I bought used 960 OC off my friend for like 40$ :D but serves me well.

[@zer0sckillz539]

@@danyi4465 Lucky indeed. I had seen that there was going to be a Tuesday restock so I got up around 7am and opened the Best Buy website and started my auto fresh extension and just sat and waited for it to say “Available”. If I remember correctly it switched to available around 11:30am-12pm. I was already logged into my account so a few clicks later and it was ordered. I got the confirmation email a few minutes later and my 3060 ti ten days later. I’m very happy with it. Hopefully everyone else can manage to actually get their hands on GPUs soon.

[@danyi4465]

@@zer0sckillz539 In USA maybe. We Europeans don't have any chance to get hands on some good GPU for less than kidney price as we don't have BestBuy xd. The Only hope is that ethereum just straight up rots in hell with all the scalpers..

[@PistigriloXP]

I want tests using the iGPU and comparing DDR4 versus DDR5. It’s relevant with the current GPU prices, even in high end computers.

[@jaggsta]

These AMD processors has no iGPU only G versions do.

[@PistigriloXP]

@@jaggsta The video is about new Intel processors, not AMD.

[@Mach141]

I think the differences between DDR4 and 5 were clearly explained in an earlier video. nothing has changed in this application

[@NeoNoggie]

@@PistigriloXP ??? The video is about a comparison between a specific Intel processor and a specific AMD processor. So it definitely is about both.

[@lennartmook9182]

@@NeoNoggie no

[@LiraeNoir]

"mixed bag for F1" : over 200FPS I don't think it's a mix bag at all to mostly consider 1% lows. These are much more important for the gamer than an overabundance of fps well above their monitor specq. Yes more frames, even above the monitor, is useful when seeking the lowest latency possible, still at this speed (and maybe even at lower speed) the 1% or 0.1% lows are much more critical. I even regret Techspot doesn't allow us to sort your tables only by 1% lows.

[@itaiperes9635]

this is miss reporting, as at 1440p intel smash AMD, nobody buy 6900X to play 1080p.

[@zigaklun3395]

@@itaiperes9635 I would

[@drewmorg.]

@@zigaklun3395 High frame gamers checking in. We want an edge, not immersion.

[@Daxter250]

@@itaiperes9635 nothing smashes anything, cause at 1440p you become GPU bound.

[@rossbrown8782]

How dense are you? He means a mixed bag relative to the 5600X, he never said performance overall wasn't good.

[@BillyBenz]

This is the first video I see that includes code compiling which I have been looking for so long

[@Patrick-S]

I don't write comments very often recently, but I have to say that I really enjoy watching your reviews Steve. They are unbiased and very professional. I currently own a 3700x and I'm not planning to upgrade any time soon, but it's still interesting to see in what direction technology is heading.

[@abdulrahmankamal6175]

I own 3600 i feel there is some juice on gpu not utilized from a3600 to 5600 not sure, just waiting for amd to drop in price

[@CaptainScorpio24]

im running a i7 7700 non k , 32gb ddr4 2400mhz on msi b250 with RTX 3070 FE powered by CM 650w 80 plus gold PSU , hyper 410r cpu cooler and 6 case fans . which cpu i shud buy ??? and will able to upgrade to raptor n meteor Lake

[@ChildrenOfDesire]

Same here, I got a 3700x for a steal a little while ago, but I'm happy that Intel is keeping AMD on their toes for price/performance. I personally think the AMD 6 core 12 thread part should have never been priced where it was and was fairly vocal about it when it came out. It was much more expensive than the 3600 was at launch. We need the CPU market to stay competitive, otherwise you'll have what is happening with the GPU market where things are only getting more and more expensive at RRP (outside of the mining situation) with seemingly nobody looking to fight for price/performance. This is only happening because with only two competitors they know they can look the other way and get away with it. So I say good on Intel for doing this.

[@h1tten1t]

Same!

[@PC-ONE]

I'm glad Intel is back in competition. I'm sure that AMD will respond to that and it's good for us as consumers.

[@chriswright8074]

AMD fine on gaming it just certain workloads because of that odd core configuration

[@deadtake2664]

If intel just unlocks their processors and supports motherboards for a few years more AMD would be sweating

[@zxbc1]

There's no competition. It's all a racket and competition is fixed within a narrow range. Why should AMD even bother lowering price when they're still the better performance for the cost? This whole narrative of "competition" is all bullshit and nobody should care who takes the performance crown. When price of building a new PC comes down to actual reasonable prices, I'll build one. Until them, these corporate fucks won't get rich on my wallet.

[@jeffreypaul9428]

Agreed!

[@andersjjensen]

@@zxbc1 This comment didn't age particularly well. Less than 24h after Alder Lake launch Microcenter were the first to roll out the new AMD prices: 5950X for $699, 5900X for $549, 5800X for $349 and 5600X for $279. All of them comes with a combo deal of $20 discount with any B550 board or $40 discount with any X570 board. The only prices that are currently fucked are GPU prices. If you think $389 is expensive for a current gen fast six core, mother board and cooler... you're better off shopping on the second hand market. Oh, wait, second hand market is completely stripped, and nobody is selling cheap...

[@AlohaBiatch]

WIth the current GPU shortage I'd be VERY interested in seeing IGPU comparisons between the 12600K, 12700K, 5700G, 5600G. I think a lot of other people would too!

[@ManOfAttitudeLP1998]

And still I owned a bunch of GPUs ever since

[@DavidCriketGD]

AMD's iGPU is much better obviously

[@AlohaBiatch]

@@DavidCriketGD is it? I know that the ryzen 5000 series APUs were significantly better than Intel 11th gen but I thoight maybe intel improved significantly with 12th gen.

[@gurjindersingh3843]

@@AlohaBiatch Not significantly, they did improve a little but even 3400G has better iGPU.

[@alexg22222]

With the lack of more budged friendly motherboards from Intel, and the crazy price of the new z690, in my country, you would get a b550+5600x for 200$ less than the 12600k+z690 combo. And for me personally, whatever addition you would get from the z690 is outweighed by that pretty high price difference, i know that maybe for some people that is not a big sum, but of me at least, those 200$ are quite a bit, i would rather get a 2TB SSD with that kind of money. I would definitely go for the AMD combo as it has been out for a while and there are smaller chances that you will have problems with it than with the newly released 12600k. As it stands now, i would say AMD should still be the preferred way to go for most people that are more budget orientated, until after some time has passed, and the 12600kf has come out, and more affordable b660 motherboards come out, and more of the problems with the new generation are flushed out. Though to be honest, if i were to build a desktop for gaming right now, i wouldn't chose either one, i would just go for the 11600kf, and save 100 $ more which could go into the GPU. ( hypothetical of course, not crazy enough to buy a GPU with the current prices :))) ).

[@thomasdevos2220]

And plus, when the new Zen 4 comes out, itll more than likely be compatible with B550 with bios update, as per AMDs historical cpu/mobo compatibility, and to top it off Zen 4 will have huge performance gains, wiping the floor once again

[@michaeljhonny9570]

Dude the performance difference is huge...is like saying well i cant afford the rtx3090 so i will buy an gtx 1050ti which costs less, do you even understand how stupid this sounds? The i5 12600k beats the ryzen 5800x which costs alot more

[@alexg22222]

@@michaeljhonny9570 Than you must have been watching a different video than this cause that huge difference you are talking about sure as hell doesn't show up in here. At least when we are talking about gaming. Other than Age of empire 4 in which indeed the better single core performance of the 12600k shined, the 12600k was basically the same with the 5600x, and i quote " with the intel processor up to just 3% faster". So no, what i said doesn't sound stupid.

[@thomasdevos2220]

@@michaeljhonny9570 the performance is basically identical in gaming lol, go look at the gaming charts, other software and programs leverage 12th gen more but unless your a content creator, 12th gen intel isn't competitive, especially considering you have to overhaul your whole pc for a smidge more performance or the same. Even ddr5 is useless in gaming too, basically no difference.

[@michaeljhonny9570]

@@thomasdevos2220 the cpu just came out and needs optimization for games, but the performance is there, many tests are done on gpu bound scenarios aswell

[@Dreamweaver94]

I just picked up the 5800X for $299.99 at Microcenter. At that price, the Intel chips aren't even a consideration to me! The only negative thing anyone had to say about the 5800X was that it's too expensive.

[@victorhugofranciscon7899]

What a deal!

[@TheBURBAN111]

Its only that cheap now because 12th gen got released lol its always been 400$ or more for the 5800x

[@Butters3982]

Great deal man. You're gonna love the 5800x

[@Dreamweaver94]

@@TheBURBAN111 I mean, yeah, obviously. That doesn't change the fact that the 5800x's performance is nearly indistinguishable from the 5950X and 12900K in gaming, especially at 1440p or higher. No way I'd pay nearly $300 more for a 12900k (plus the cost of a new motherboard) to gain around ~8% higher fps best case scenario with a 3090 over the 5800x.

[@S94-l9w]

Thank intel for that pricing. As the uploader said, building a new rig rn, intel alder Lake > amd for price and performance

[@glharlor]

This is very interesting, though I will still upgrade to an AMD processor because I already have a b450 board with my 3600. Eventually planning on a 5900x when prices come down. Also the compatibility issues with the alder lake processor make it a no for me

[@andersjjensen]

Less than 24h after Alder Lake launch Microcenter was the first to roll out the new AMD prices: 5950X for $699, 5900X for $499, 5800X for $349 and 5600X for $279. All of them comes with a combo deal of $20 discount with any B550 board or $40 discount with any X570 board.

[@reinaldo1504]

This alderlake actually make benefit for us in mid range amd processor, with this speed in alderlake amd gonna drop the price for 5900/5950, so us with ryzen 3/5 can upgrade not so xpensive

[@roys2970]

Only "problem" I have had with the recent reviews of these processors is the disparity in hardware support for the chips on both sides. There are still bugs on the AMD side of the house on Win 11 (2 of the 3 open bugs are still present I believe) and Win 10 doesn't have the software scheduler for the Intel side. It'll be nice to see a comparison once all the software matures. Absolutely good to see Intel come out with something super competitive. We win when these companies fight to be the best.

[@wobblysauce]

I think Win11 was more for Intel then it was for Microsoft.

[@tomx641]

@@wobblysauce Nobody seeking high performance would jump onto a new buggy OS. PEBCAK = Problem exists between chair and keyboard

[@wobblysauce]

That it does.

[@happygiraffe9787]

Windows 10 performs better than 11 on new intels

[@TubeNewrome]

Let's be honest - between new gen cpu + ddr5 + win11 - there are lot's of bugs and problems to overcome for everyone.

[@romefox]

If the 5600x drops the price it will be the best mid range gaming cpu option, for productivity though, the 12600k is an absolute beast. Still, it is impressive that AMDs mid range from a year ago is still competitive for gaming.

[@PiratePete1911]

I feel like I am taking crazy pills when people talk about the value of these new CPUS. The absolute cheapest DDR4 Z690 board I can find at my local retailer is 350 and a decent B550 board is 150. Its a 200 dollar premium to go for this new platform and if you want DDR5 then its a 600 dollar premium. The word value is not something I would use here.

[@BornInArona]

True mate... It's marketing and a lot of youtubers like him trying to sell that stuff to us...

[@charonobol]

My problem is I could find a decent Z690 board at micro center for $219 with $20 off when buying a cpu, so $200. The problem is the had no cpu coolers or brackets for the Alder Lake CPU’s. The only way I could have gotten a board and cpu is if I went with an Asus board because it has the mounting holes.

[@vinyfiny2019]

@@BornInArona Why would he be doing that😂??? Explain how it benefits Hardware Unboxed for you to buy a random Alder Lake CPU and mobo from your local retailer.

[@raininginside]

You're comparing a B motherboard to a Z. Wait for the cheaper b660

[@vinyfiny2019]

@@raininginside that's what's currently available though. Can't price a system based on unreleased product.

[@snuffsonic23]

12600k is around 325€ here in Germany at release while the 5600X goes on sale for as low as 270 regularily (and it was 230 a couple months ago), I really hope the i5 will drop in price so we will finally get a 200€ 5600X but I guess thats the stuff of dreams..

[@vMaxHeadroom]

Intel will be releasing non K versions and now doubt the 12400 which should be impressive and in the Euro 200 range with just 6 P Cores and no E Cores...which in turn will make AMD drop prices even more than they are currently doing so fingers crossed it will be a win win for you very soon to grab your 5600X.

[@diede3x060]

It is nice to see that Intel is starting to be competitive again!

[@TheKillerZmile]

and its only 10nm lmao imagine if it have 7nm

[@TheCountess666]

@@TheKillerZmile it's 'intel 7' now. and about on par with TSMC's 7nm. intel just got here and you already want them to move on to the next node? AMD's moving to 5nm next year.

[@TheKillerZmile]

@@TheCountess666 gl

[@marektomas9256]

Can we see some test of integrated graphic? Maybe even comparation with AMD integration graphic? Situation on GPU market is still not good, so we would like to see how these new intel CPU do games in spare time before finding some graphic cart.

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

I agree,they should test the new intel uhd with DDR4 and DDR5.

[@Ghostsonplanets]

About the same as Rocket Lake iGPU. It's not meant to gaming but just power the display.

[@rickwhittaker2525]

The 12600k has 10 real cores. It is completely normal that it stomps the ryzen 5600x that has 6 real cores in compute tasks. It's really no surprise that it provides 5800x level results in compute tasks. In games, it's more a less the same results for both. Games do not use more than 6 to 8 cores. The 5600x will come down in price and so will the 5800x. Alder lake mid-range has exploded the status quo. The mid-range is officially at least 8 cores now. Intel has reset the bar in mid-range price/performance.

[@codethis2875]

unfortunately non K i5's are just 6 cores just like 5600X and likely to have lower clocks as well. so ya.... mid range is still 6 cores.

[@qhkqchk2920]

If AMD didn't step up we will still be stuck with 4 cores for high-end instead of 8 cores with mid range setup. Intel setback the whole PC industry for way too long

[@GewelReal]

6+4 real cores*

[@21Dimen]

@@qhkqchk2920 that doesnt make sense

[@CaptainScorpio24]

im running a i7 7700 non k , 32gb ddr4 2400mhz on msi b250 with RTX 3070 FE powered by CM 650w 80 plus gold PSU , hyper 410r cpu cooler and 6 case fans . which cpu i shud buy ??? and will able to upgrade to raptor n meteor Lake

[@Alsax1985]

So basically, 12600k isn't worth the upgrade, especially for us who have tuned our RAM timings and have 3080s... 5600x is a fuckin' monster.

[@saharatul]

Mega Cope

[@yeahitsme4427]

So Alderlake 12600K is 10 cores / 16 threads, and against a 5600X 6 cores / 12 threads, that's 1 year old, can only get 2 more average gaming fps????

[@DJSPACE25]

And + price for new more expensive Motherboard… Better to add this money and buy 5900x

[@SL4US]

How much more fps were you expecting when most games are gpu limited anyway and is not typically a good real world test??? Doesnt matter what your comparing it too anyway, it still beats out almost everything AMD has right now and can compete with the 5900x

[@tonya.2645]

This awesome video convinced me to buy the 12600K back in Jan 2022. This CPU does everything well for a great price. Stays mostly under 40% utilization including while running MSFS 2020 on RTX 3080 12G at 1080 w/DLSS perf on 1440 monitor. Does not even get much busier while used to capture OBS video from 3080 at 1440. Got it @$249 at microcenter in Jan22. It's still $279 at most stores Sep22. Loving it so far and expect it should work fine for years to come. It is NOT power hungry at all except when benchmarking. Thanks for the video.

[@pr0xZen]

An awesome offering served up to the market. This is (hopefully) gonna kick off some wild competition and aggressive innovation. The early adopter taxes for things 99% of users won't benefit from for quite a while still, is a tough pill to swallow. Ryzen 5000-series does have a gigantic advantage in this competiton though: The long-ass upgrade path. _A LOT_ of people already own a compatible platform. _For those who do (!),_ 5000-series being a drop-in upgrade makes the cost/performance value of a 5000-series upgrade off the charts compared to Alder Lake. If building an entirely new system that isn't replacing a Coffee Lake refresh or B450 or newer system, Alder Lake looks attractive. As long as you stick with DDR4. Z690 DDR4 boards do have a heftly entry price though, a good B660 offering will hopefully sweeten the deal a bit eventually. We're still quite far off from PCIE5.0 and DDR5 being of any beneficial use, that could defend those huge early adopter taxes and premiums.

[@tomstech4390]

12600k+z690 tomahawk=£545 5600x+B550 tomahawk=£398 37% more money for 1% more performance, Yes Intel truly is back.

[@KC-wt4fz]

Comparing high end board with mid range is stupid. Comparing only gaming performance is stupid as well

[@razorblazor571]

if you spend 200 dollar more you can enjoy that life changing 3% on average performance gain especially in older games. Good one Steve.

[@sergeyivanovish85]

it took long before the amd boys came out the sewers

[@peterruskov]

I would never take the tech press conclusions seriously, only the graphs. Their buying advice is laughable.

[@ctrlectrld]

Impressive CPU for the price, but what's even more impressive is a 5800X at 300 bucks. Crazy good deal, thank you Intel.

[@AceIII86]

Maybe I can finally afford a 5600x or even 5900x for a decent price.

[@TurntableTV]

My strategy as well. For my use case a 5600x would be perfect. I'm sure the prices will drop.

[@davidbooth1634]

@@TurntableTV 5800x is $150 less ($299) due to this in America

[@kartikbhendekar5895]

@@davidbooth1634 it's 490$ in my country :(

[@MaaZeus]

@@davidbooth1634 That is a Microcenter deal only. AMD has not announced any global price drops yet.

[@thenotsookayguy]

In your dreams lmao

[@yasinomidi7525]

Tbh they are pretty evenly matched in gaming, you just have to choose between lower power consumption or productivity performance. I'd just get the one who's currently cheaper

[@JohnSmith-ts3el]

id stick with Ryzen , you don't have to pop a new motherboard on each upgrade.

[@Fubo777]

Energy consumption (efficiency) wise they're pretty much the same, which is impressive considering how much faster the 12600k is in productivity tasks.

[@KiSs0fd3aTh]

@@JohnSmith-ts3el Really? Both am4 and z690 will get exactly one CPU upgrade. Arguably, Intel will probably get the better upgrade. So what are you talking about?

[@Verpal]

@@JohnSmith-ts3el Unfortunately 6000 series Ryzen will require new motherboard, so if you are considering to buy 5600X instead, the upgradability will likely be worse, if Intel can at least get one upgrade.

[@fugitive6549]

@@JohnSmith-ts3el Stop fanboying AMD, they are all greedy companies who only care about satisfying their shareholders. Intel does yave AMD beat pretty badly here if you are doing any kinda work on your pc which is likely. We can safely assume the new motherboard will be supported for 2 more gens and the new cheaper mobo will be available soon. I was rooting for AMD when Intel got complacent but now I'm rooting for Intel as AMD got reallu complacent with their pricing.

[@TheEthNick]

We had a good run, 5600X*😢 *& will continue to do so for a while yet

[@kartikbhendekar5895]

How to use that emoji? I thought KZbin removed them.

[@TheEthNick]

@@kartikbhendekar5895 KZbin emoji keyboard on PC, look for ‘awesome’ emoji. (Can’t do it on iPad).

[@Sid-Cannon]

The 12400F is going to be really interesting if the price is right ...

[@codethis2875]

Nope.... people miss a huge point. the 12600K shares the same die as the 12900K with 6+4 config. All non-K i5's are 6+0. basically just 6 P cores. combined with the fact that those cores are going to be clocked lower than the 12600K that means 6 slower cores vs 6 Zen 3 cores. My guess is the 5600X will overall win the 12400.

[@mirceastan94]

@@codethis2875 It will be almost as good and for about 120$ less, with B660 it's going to be the new sweet spot.

[@codethis2875]

@@mirceastan94 So Steve data shows 3% diff between the 5600X and the 12600K in gaming(application performance gonna suck with just 6 cores compares to 10) the 12400F is going to have lower clocks\power targets so probably lower avg performance... When we have good stock of cheap B660's AMD Zen 3D and likely price-cuts(which already started) gonna be in effect. Sorry mate, the only true deal here is the 12600K\F

[@sic22l]

@@codethis2875 Big cores are more important, leaks show that 12400F is going to match 5600X for less than $200. Intel will anihilate both 3600 and 5600X with one CPU.

[@codethis2875]

@@sic22l Leaks show the 12400F to slower in many tasks while matching in others. I'm not sure about the MSRP but let's go with 200$ For additional 100$(12600KF) you get 50%* higher multi-threaded perf and probably around 5% better single thread perf. Explain to me why the 12400F makes sense here? unless its dirt cheap like 150$

[@WTBMrGrey]

So for someone like myself with a decent B550 mobo and a R5 3600, I might aswell just get the R5 5600x or R7 5800x ? Not worth changing platform really?

[@sic22l]

Exactly. Intel motherboard prices are ridiculous. Microcenter slashed the price of the 5800X to $299, it's a bargain now.

[@WTBMrGrey]

But then again I run a RTX 2070, 32gb CL15 3000mhz ram and game at 1440p, so most probably just better off sticking with the R5 3600.

[@goncaloduarte4683]

@@WTBMrGrey with your setup it would be way more worth it to scalp your current GPU and then use the extra 300$ that you would spend on the CPU to buy a more powerful scalped GPU.

[@kingplunger6033]

your gpu is fine... you don't need to upgrade imo. wait for next gen, prices might not get better, but its unlikely that its gonna get worse

[@maimaibiri9045]

Wait for amds nxt cpu or probably even after that, you dont really need an upgrade with cpu and gpu you have.

[@emerestthisk990]

46% more power than 5600X yet very similar gaming performance. Will wait for Ryzen 3D or the next proper Ryzen in late 2022.

[@Alirezarz62]

Yes finally I can buy 5600x at 50% off while having same perf in games :)

[@reallyryan_]

I have 2 12th gen CPU's one i5 12600K and an i9 2900K in my higher end rig the i5 is paired with a 3060 my i9 is paired with a 3080 Ti both cpu's have been amazing and will last me for years to come.

[@IcebergTech]

It would be interesting to see how people who haven't been able to upgrade their graphics card this generation would benefit - or otherwise - from Alder Lake. Like, RTX 2080Ti or GTX 1080Ti testing for example.

[@bacongl]

I am excited to see what AMD comes out with here in February. But good job Intel for spicing things up. Competition = consumers win

[@GameBacardi]

Mobile cpu's

[@hectorj.romanp.]

Moreover, the i5 is an APU so is much better value for a non-gamer even when compared with the Ryzen 5 5600G.

[@Cyanide01995]

And the intel APU isn't really useless when dedicated gpu installed. It still used in encoding and to accelerate upcoming intel Arc

[@chriswright8074]

Not really when it can't play games

[@spagette3457]

No it's not really an APU, it has very poor performing intergated graphics, the ryzen beats it no problem

[@Cyanide01995]

@@chriswright8074 he said non gamer

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

@@chriswright8074 it can play games. i used my hg graphics for several older and lesser demanding games when i did not have a gpu. you can play tons of games on intel graphics with 60 fps at 1080p i even played some at 1440p with 60 fps using low to medium settings

[@M00_be-r]

Not surprised about this a 10 ( 6+4 ) core alderlake vs a 6 core ryzen didn t mention the SMT ;-)

[@robertstan298]

Funnily enough, you can find the 5800X at Microcenter for $299 right now. If other retailers follow a similar suit, this sort of video might need to be adjusted to a "vs 5800X" scenario. In which case, Intel's best ADL SKU won't look as great vs their competition. I think by the time affordable/good budget Socket 1700 mobos come, AMD may have already launched Zen3D and made Ryzen 5000 price cuts permanent/official. Cause as it currently stand, cheapest/most budget Z690 options are 2x more expensive than budget B550 alternatives for a Ryzen build (or even almost 3x cheaper if you don't mind mATX), at least where I live. That being said, I hope to see some platform costs videos in the future. Being stuck to just expensive Z690 options for the i5 kinda makes the good price argument get lost. It should also include what is needed to properly cool all those CPUs at a minimum (particularly the ADL lineup and for Ryzen 5000 you can get away with much much less) and long term power costs. With a secondary focus on DDR5 versions for ADL as well.

[@Dexiefy]

I like that you mentioned 10400f. It is insane value for money CPU. Hoping 12400f will be similar to its older brother in that regard.

[@cldpt]

AMD is even cheaper if YOU CONSIDER A B450 OR X470 MOTHERBOARD! Every reviewer seems to be forgetting that the benefits of PCIe 4.0 and other upgrades on B550/X570 are pretty meaningless for gaming budget builds! Nobody with a sensible budget is getting an m.2 PCIe 4.0 (gen1 or 2). They're most likely purchasing middle ground PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives. And there is also no measurable benefit even at the top end of GPUs when contrasting PCIE 3.0 vs 4.0. There's people taking full advantage of 3090's in PCIE 3.0 x470 systems with Zen 3!

[@mapesdhs597]

Absolutely spot on. I bought a 5600X for 250 UKP in September, but the B450 Tomahawk Max II to go with it was only 60 UKP, and the cooler (92mm Hyper H412R) was only 23 UKP, much cheaper than an Intel build.

[@AndyViant]

I just bought a 1gb Nvme 1.3 PCI 3.0 3400 MB/s and a 500mb Nvme PCI 4.0 7000 MB/s. Same Price. and a 5000 MB PCIE 4.0 was $30 less, so I thought I'd buy the best I could for my system drive, because $30 is less than an hours wage for me I'd consider that not to be a "top end" build since I got a 560 motherboard and an 11400f.

[@geneaso]

Got mine for $136 during Black Friday. Love it, just waiting for it to arrive. Im from overseas.

[@Cinetyk]

Thanks for all your work on the Alder Lake release and everything else prior - for many years now. Feels like for gaming only ADL isn't such a must-buy compared to the almost 1y old Ryzen 5000 series, though of course on average they're better. The productivity benchmarks for these ADL CPUs are much more interesting to me - definitely higher performance there. Which raises the question: should we still look at these comparisons the same way as we did in the past? 5600X has 12 threads, vs 12600K at 16 threads - so is it fair? Of course, when you see that the CPU + MB price is mostly comparable, you say 'yeah, it's comparable' - but how can should we compare these CPUs in the future, do you think? Still, excellent to see a strong release for Intel which means competition is alive in the CPU space, with both companies working on offering the best CPU out there. Personally, I hope Intel's GPU launch with DG2 is also strong and that it disrupts the current GPU market, finally bringing prices down to a reasonable place and with high volume offerings!

[@nipa5961]

Names and core counts don't mean anything. The 12600X is as fast or faster than a 11900K, even though one is called I5 and the other I9. An I9 that was released only a bit over half a year ago. I 'd say you should compare based on pricing and also flagship vs. flagship.

[@rh4009]

Well said. The question should be "how much performance can I buy at xxx price level for games or for work"

[@daynight6021]

For those who is wondering, I5 12400 and b650 are leaked to come out in q1 2022. I would say i5 12400/f paired with b650 would be the next budget king.

[@AgentSmith911]

Finally, Intel is back! Now AMD will hopefully answer back with another leap 🙏🏻

[@aresyposeidon]

Excellent work! That was a great review! Congrats Steve!

[@joshashe2087]

Seems like a good value CPU for an effective workstation, but for gaming 5600x is still a winner for me. Far less power consumption, cheaper system/cooling. Not sure how much of headroom is left for 12600K overclocking.

[@ashtonlipscomb1295]

did you watch the video???

[@andersjjensen]

@@ashtonlipscomb1295 He has seen the price drops of Zen 3. Microcenter were the first to roll them out less than 24h after the initial Alder Lake reviews. You can get a 5600X for $279 now, and a $20 discount if you take any B550 board, or $40 discount if you take any X570 board. The 5600X comes with a box cooler that actually works perfectly fine. The 12600K does not come with a cooler.

[@Lobanium]

I pretty much only game on my PC. I have, and will continue to, always buy an i5. I'm upgrading from a 9600K to a 12600K.

[@purplegill10]

The biggest thing I got from this review: The intel 10 series and ryzen 3000 series are both still overkill for anyone wanting to play games at 1080p 60fps.

[@Aki_Lesbrinco]

Also at 4k all these CPUs, including Ryzen 3000, perform basically the same.

[@kimnice]

@@Aki_Lesbrinco Z

[@kimnice]

@@Aki_Lesbrinco Z

[@kimnice]

@@Aki_Lesbrinco Z

[@AndyViant]

Honestly they do more than fine at 1440 as well.

[@dividion8102]

Yeah, the competition is great. They mentioned on the WAN show that Micro Center dropped the AMD prices pretty dramatically, with the 5800X now at $300. The 5700G is down to $280 (with the 5600X). Hopefully the online retailers like Amazon and Newegg follow suit soon.

[@nicane-9966]

Basically making 5600x non sense, should go down to 200

[@stephandolby]

Higher P-core clocks, along with much larger L2 cache for P-cores and shared L2 cache for each E-core module, must be responsible for the vast majority of the IPC gains. However, despite the system power consumption "only" being 46% higher, this does mean that the CPU probably uses about double that of the 5600X, so I'd be interested to see how Meteor Lake improves in this area.

[@kirby0louise]

Nah, the big IPC wins probably come from Golden Cove being much wider than previous uarches Intel has made. Go check out their overview video for the Alder Lake architecture where they deep dive on the changes made to both P and E cores

[@johnm91326]

More likely AMD increases power consumption to match intel.

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

@@johnm91326 They can't really, because Ryzen hits a brick wall when it comes to clockspeeds, this has been the case since 1000 series and still is. Barely any OC headroom, they might do 100 MHz more on avg or so with some 5000 refresh XT modesl + 3D Cache and gain a little, AMD needs to rethink their prices tho

[@johnm91326]

@@Dr.WhetFarts There clearly is some headroom. The power consumption difference between the 5800x and 5600x is much more than the 2 extra cores would imply. 16 core Zen 4 is rumoured to be 170 W so clearly increasing TDP is exactly what AMD is going to do. The one thing they won’t do is drastically reduce prices.

[@PG-gs5vb]

From the definition, higher clocks obviously have nothing to do with IPC gains. They do influence single-core performance.

[@Syntheticks]

I built my pc earlier this year with a 3900x (the 5900x was sold out) & spoiler it wasn't much cheaper then Alder Lake. If I was building it right now I would go with that 12600k the price to performance is nice shame about 7 months too late for me Intel. XD Good review Steve.

[@Gungrave123]

it is better only if your main daily task on the PC is firing up synthetic benchmarks

[@mjenabi2]

I did not see coming. When i picked up a 5600x last november, I thought Intel's next gen will probably catch up or just go a tiny bit above AMD but wow they have smashed it for sure. In terms of gaming, playing at 3440x1440p, it's not going to make a difference for me personally, but good to see competition heating up.

[@Angel7black]

Tbh i think it could in some less optimized games where it would have better frame timings but yeah youre good. For me $300 seems wayyy too much for a 6 core 12 thread but if you got it then spend it

[@yeahitsme4427]

12600k vs 5600X average gaming fps the difference is 2 fps! Don't forget 12600k has 2 more cores and 4 more threads than 5600X, so your current cpu is perfect!

[@xruud24]

Smashed it in power consumption?

[@xruud24]

@@Jimster481 I was being sarcastic

[@rando843]

I mean, the 12600K only really smashes it in terms of overall computing performance. For gaming it's almost identical, so unless you're doing something else with your machine (which like, fair) I would not call it "smashed"

[@darkl3ad3r]

Why aren't you testing at 720p for gaming benchmarks? We don't care about games being GPU limited. We care about PEAK capabilities because it means more overhead available for heavier render scenes. Using 1080p and consistently reaching GPU bottlenecks skews the results and obfuscates the real differences, whatever they may be.

[@TubeYouDSilvy]

As usual - awesome video - although I totally disagree with your conclusion. Based on the performance/power analysis - this just makes me want to wait for Zen 4. I don’t want to sound like an overzealous environmentalist - but increasingly - I’m just not looking to fritter away energy.

[@tylerarkin3376]

Thank you for adding Factorio! What are you methods for that benchmark?

[@nipa5961]

Thanks for the review, Steve! The 12600K is an impressive "little" CPU. It's a pity though that the costs of an entire system make every Alder Lake CPU the much worse choice in comparison the their AMD counter parts. I hoped for falling prices for Zen3 with the release of Alder Lake, but I don't see that coming since there is no need for AMD to react at the moment. A big disappointment for me personally. I should add, that I speak of prices in my area: 5600X 289€, 12600K 325€, B550 beginning at 95€, Z690 beginning at 197€. Of course cooling and running costs also are in favor of Zen3, even though Alder Lake is a big step in the right direction. Is there any information about the launch date of a cheaper B660 chipset? Not yet, right? I'm hoping for the release of Zen3D to bring down prices of Zen3 next quarter then.

[@nadstengco2591]

we have pretty much the same situation.. the new INTEL's performance is very impressive indeed, it's just that when compared with ZEN3 the overall cost for a system is just way too high to ignore.. we'll just have to wait for the cheaper INTEL motherboards and see how much they'll cost before making the final decision..

[@sic22l]

Well, one of the US retailers (Microcenter) dropeed the price of the 5800X to $299 and 5900X to $499 which means that 12600K with Z690 mobo costs almost as much as 12 cores from AMD.

[@volf3r505]

And no one factors in the DDR5 price, and for me, if one is going to adopt a new platform, better get that new memory as well - DDR5 is 2,3 to 3 times higher in price for the same amount of RAM compared to DDR4. But hey, lets shill some intel, don't wanna loose those review privileges and "free" samples after all

[@Safetytrousers]

@@volf3r505 As the video says, DDR5 over DDR4 is neglible at the moment, and there are plenty of DDR4 Z690 boards.

[@zxbc1]

The whole PC hardware market is a racket, with duopoly in both CPU and GPU. There's a clear cartel keeping prices high and restricting competition to be "within the realm of high profitability". All this hype regarding who takes the throne of performance... who cares? A small advantage that's aimed to exactly match the leading product that's grossly overpriced already isn't competition, it's a scheme to keep profits high. Consumers are swindled into believing "healthy" competition is back in town, it's all bullshit. I understand that the endless desire to upgrade PC to play games that don't actually require the new PC is enticing enough a motivation for PC hardware review channels like this, but at the end of the day, if we still care about the health of the consumer market long term, we should really call these corporations out, and hurt them financially by simply boycotting their products. I for one decided not to participate in all this hardware craze in the last two years, because it's just all silly and damaging in the long term. A little dialing down of consumerism can do the market a lot of good.

[@Blafard666]

Another good, clear review, thank you for doing this job guys !

[@xkxk7539]

Insane how this can compete with the Ryzen 7 and 9 and somewhat cannibalizes the i7. 12600K is pretty much the 2500K of this generation. Legendary.

[@MitternachtAngel]

One year later you can get an i7 12700k for 300 new and 250 used... What a time

[@sahirkhan6672]

5600x is a year old if the 12600k didnt beat it I would consider it a failure

[@CurrentRapCurrents]

7:13 Super valuable... I am looking at system value; particularly CPU price + CPU cooler price. although the 12600k and 5800x are priced similarly now, base power draw is actually in the 12600k's favor although the 5800x's "published" TDP is 105W vs the 12600k's 150W "published TDP. Under Blender loaded conditions, the 12600k draws less power. But how about under idle, high frame rate gaming and 4k gaming? so much to consider... Comparatively though, this is really great info because I currently have a 10700k system to compare both potential CPUs to. Thanks!

[@lupintheiii3055]

Really nice CPU, hig platform cost and power consumption make that an option only for people looking to build a new system unfortunately. A lot of users are on AM4 now and for them an easy upgrade to Zen3D makes more sense. Glad to see Intel back in the game tho.

[@lupintheiii3055]

Also I won't give up Smart Acces Memory with my RX 6800 so I don't regret going for a 5600X :-)

[@sanmattew7221]

if you actually saw the vid, its power consumption is the same as zen 3

[@chriswright8074]

@@sanmattew7221 it's not the 5600x using 65w less than 12600k which was more close the 11600k and 5800x

[@spectre722]

@@sanmattew7221 b-b-ut intel hot and hungry =((

[@NeXMaX]

@@chriswright8074 Yet it had equivalent performance to a 5800X. So performance per watt isn't that different.

[@PhotoshopArt]

My 12600k just arrived 😇

[@MikaelKKarlsson]

The lower the model the more impressive the product becomes in this series. 🙃

[@----.__]

Pick up my 12900K on Monday. Can't wait.

[@rickbhattacharya2334]

Man can't wait to see AMD's answer to 12th gen !!

[@ezpz_183]

Yeah, nice to see that things get competitive again

[@sic22l]

Price cuts. 5800X costs $299 in Microcenter right now. With B550 motherboard it's much cheaper than 12600K with Z690.

[@johntotten4872]

5000 series with 3D cache will be out in a few months, then Zen 4 will release Sept Oct (maybe later) of 2022. Of note intel will be releasing I think it is called Raptor lake end of 2022 using the LGA 1700 socket replacing Alderlake. Should be fun times next year.

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

@@johntotten4872 3d cache won't bring much, in some workloads it is going to be 0% gain and zen 4 is q4 2022 if not q1 2023 amd needs to lower prices across the board to stay competitive which is fine for consumers

[@drewmorg.]

Where the 12th gen excels is under IDLE conditions in Windows as far as power consumption goes. My 12600k is sitting in Windows at 42c with a Noctua UH12S and all case fans at 0% as I type this. The total package power is bouncing between 4-10w. My old 3600 would be spinning all fans like crazy and never went below 45c idle even with Hyper 212 ON. Intel really has something here with the idle system efficiency, Jayz did a video on this yesterday highlighting an almost 100w power difference between an idle 5800X and 12900k.

[@youzernejm]

They've still got to sort those DRM issues with a lot of even modern AAA games not working. Also, the fact that you need the *shudder* Windows 11 makes me interested in 12400f even more. These are outside of mu budget, compatibility issues are something that pushes me away from early adoption.

[@Angel7black]

It should be good in like 3-6 months tho tbh but that is definitely a valid concern

[@Webexplr]

12600k is currently being sold at $419 in Indonesia

[@TheBlindphleb]

As long as a switch to Intel requires a $400+ mb and new ram, I’m going to be sticking with my Ryzen.

[@Starwarman1]

That’s weird. Got my mobo for like 150. Fanboys on both sides are idiots. They’re companies. They don’t care about you

[@TheBlindphleb]

@@Starwarman1 I'm an ITX users, so those are more expensive mobo usually, and even then Intel boards are a ton more than AMD boards.

[@mkcristobal]

In Spain you can get the 10400F at 150€ right now, which would translate to roughly 150USD (that's the usual conversion we get for CPU parts), and 110USD for the B560M Bazooka. That's a good combo.

[@sic22l]

Bazooka is an overkill for this CPU.

[@TrueThanny]

The 12600K is $320. It doesn't come with a cooler. So realistically, the buy-in price for CPU, motherboard, and cooler is around $560 (320 + 200 + 40). The 5600X is $309 and comes with a cooler. So you can buy in at about 309 + 120 = $429. That's a 30% lower price. It should still be reduced in price, but the platform cost is lower than you're saying it is in comparison to the 12600K.

[@johnscaramis2515]

Not to mention DDR5 prices, if you think of going "futureproof" by whatever that means in terms of computers

[@AndyViant]

The platform cost is also lower due to PCIE related stuff. Lightning Gen 5 vs older PCI3 3.0 stuff is gonna make huge differences to any higher end NVME's

[@TrueThanny]

@@johnscaramis2515 I'm not counting DDR5, because I agree with Steve that it's not worth it right now.

[@TrueThanny]

@@AndyViant The PCIe version is utterly irrelevant. On Z690, it only applies to the first expansion slot, and there are literally zero peripherals supporting PCIe 5.0. The NVMe slot is still PCIe 4.0. While I have no doubt that supporting PCIe 5.0 on that first slot added cost to the motherboard, I don't think it was very much. I also don't think it was in the slightest bit necessary, because nobody using an Alder Lake platform will _ever_ be able to take advantage of PCIe 5.0, and I'm not even slightly exaggerating.

[@Owen-fn8ff]

Great studio, Steve. Must make these long benchmarking sessions just that much more bearable having everything so handy, not having to go go and down stairs and what not. I’m not sure if the turn around would have been possible in the past so the studio is already proving it’s worth! Keep up the good work!

[@rh4009]

Your conclusion is bewildering. AMD has the same performance for gaming, but is cheaper, mobo considered, yet you conclude that it should not even be considered for new builds? LOL. Thanks for the benchmarks, I will draw my own conclusions.

[@digitaltactics9234]

AM5 is around the corner. 5000 series is said to be the last chip that will fit AM4. That is why he said that no room for future upgrades as AM4 is near or you can say at it's end of life. Which makes perfect sense. If you ok with no upgrade path than & your fine with no new chips in the future will fit your motherboard then you do you.

[@rh4009]

​@@digitaltactics9234 ryzen 3+ (vcache) will also fit AM4, and I expect it will outperform alder lake

[@SISSYPUSS]

@@rh4009 In a different year, maybe.

[@MaxGamingLV]

I do not like the use of AMD + AMD vs AMD + Intel in the gaming comparisons. It’s obvious that AMD + AMD is going to have an extra advantage of being one platform just like Apple Hardware + Apple Software. I think you should’ve just taken something like an RTX 3080 for this review, sliced the graphics to 1080pHigh and tested it that way. Ryzen 7 5800x + RTX 3080 Intel Core i5-12600k + RTX 3080.

[@Spark010]

Thanks for all the hard work. Do you plan on repeating all of the Alder Lake benchmarks with an air cooled option? Using an AIO isn’t a real world for most of us.

[@Supermrloo]

Bruh let the man sleep

[@Spark010]

@@Supermrloo 🤣

[@augustodeleon4358]

Very professional review as always! In depth and valuable info!

[@geo4926]

Locally, R7-5800X and I5-12600K are priced exactly the same. They are both $299 U.S.

[@Justathought81]

Great review as always, thanks Steve

[@AKMcF]

I think your Alderlake testing has been absolutely spot on, great job guys ! It's exciting to see both Intel and AMD hitting the mark this time around, here's to a bright future of truly competitive products and pricing !!

[@jekmate]

Thank you so much Steve!