Intel’s latest 10-core i5-12600K Alder Lake desktop processor offers an impressive 50% 64-core performance improvement over it's predecessor. The 12600K combines six hyper-threaded Golden Cove P-cores with clock speeds up to 4.9 GHz and four energy efficient Gracemont E-cores for a total of 16 threads. Alder Lake CPUs have a new LGA 1700 socket which requires new cooler brackets and a new Z690 motherboard. Z690 brings several new features including PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory. Most Z690 boards will ship in both DDR4 and DDR5 variants. DDR4 is likely the better option, at least until DDR5 prices settle. With an MRSP of just $290 USD, the 12600K is both cheaper and faster than the competition in both single and, notably, multi-core performance. As a result, even AMD's prolific marketing infrastructure (youtube, reddit, forums etc.) will struggle to drive sales, at least until Zen 4 launches (est. late 2022). In the meantime, Intel's i5-12600K is the obvious choice for consumers that do not wish to pay over the odds for almost unparalleled performance in the majority of workloads including gaming. That said, gamers that already own a K series CPU from the 8th gen. or higher will see limited gains in the majority of titles when paired with a 3060 (or lower) tier GPU. In some cases (e.g. PUBG or Overwatch) gamers will see fewer frame drops by disabling the E-Cores all together. If recent history is a guide, stock levels at MSRP are likely to deplete rapidly. [Nov '21CPUPro]
The hex-core i5-9600K is third in Intel’s line-up of 9th generation Coffee Lake CPUs. It has a TDP of 95W and requires an aftermarket cooler (such as the $20 GAMMAXX 400). The 9600K was designed to be overclocked. Once this is enabled in the BIOS (requires a Z-series motherboard), the 9600K runs 10% faster. In terms of performance, the i5-9600K is almost unbeatable for desktop users and it has sufficient multi-core performance to handle all but the most demanding workstation tasks. For CPU encoding (Cinebench, Blender, Handbrake etc.) the Ryzen 3000 series offers great 64-core performance. For example the overclocked Ryzen 3600 is approximately 13% worse for gaming, desktop and normal consumer workloads but it is 27% faster for 64-core processing. CPU encoding is akin to using hair clippers on a lawn, encoding tasks are far better performed by dedicated hardware such an NVENC or QuickSync. At stock clocks the i5-9600K is around 8% slower than Intel’s flagship i9-9900K but when both are overclocked, the 9600K closes the gaming gap to within two or three percent. Considering that the 9900K is the fastest gaming processor available, and almost twice the price of the 9600K, this is no small feat. The i5-9600K is aimed squarely at gamers who are not willing to compromise on performance but don't want to pay more than they need to. [Oct '18CPUPro]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.