Intel Core i9-12900K: How to choose your processor?

As part of the operation ASUS PCDIY, that we made with ASUS ROG, it was a question of mounting a complete and identifiable / purchasable configuration directly from their site. More information in our article: Building your PC Gamer well in 2022. For the occasion, we had the Intel Core i9-12900K processor.

Understand your processor

The first important point to address is understanding your CPU numbers. For the occasion, we will only take as an example the Intel series, leaving AMD and Ryzen aside. Here’s how to read the i9-12900K:

• i9: This is the range of processors divided between i3/i5/i7 and i9 for Intel.
• 12: This is the generation of the processor. Generally, the more we go up in generation, the more the technical evolutions are notable.
• 900: It is the power of the processor.
• K: The trailing suffix is ​​used to obtain information about the characteristics of the processor. Here the i9-12900K is overclockable.

As you will have understood, the choice of processor is based on different criteria that we will try to explain to you succinctly so that the choice is easier for you.

Which range to choose?

It is essential to remember that the choice of the range must be made according to your application. Indeed, if, by default, the processors are classified such as i3 > i5 > i7 > i9, the choice is not so simple. The price of each range can drastically increase from simple to triple. With the evolution of digital as well as user consumption, cores become much more important than frequency. To simplify :

• i3: entry-level, interesting for office automation, multimedia or so-called light games. What to mount his first PC without making a hole in his budget.
• i5: mid-range and one of the most popular. They make it possible to achieve a maximum of objectives. Whether for gaming, working, using multimedia, i5 processors know how to collect a large amount of information to perform well in daily use.
• i7: high-end, we begin to specialize. The interest here is of powerr integrate video editing, streaming or applications requiring a large set of simultaneous calculations (the same goes for games such as Civilization VI, to name a few).
• i9: very high-end, we recommend this type of processor to professionals who use editing software, 3D modeling, virtualization, etc.

Which generation to choose?

Here is an example, given by Intel, making it easier to understand the evolutions due to the generations.

• 9th Generation Intel Core i7 Desktop Processor:
  • Up to 4.90 GHz maximum frequency
  • 8/8 cores/threads
  • 12 MB cache
• 10th Generation Intel Core i7 Desktop Processor:
  • Maximum frequency of up to 5.10 GHz
  • 8/16 cores/threads
  • 16 MB cache
• 11th Generation Intel Core i7 Desktop Processor:
  • Maximum frequency of up to 4.90 GHz
  • 8/16 cores/threads
  • 16 MB cache
• 12th Generation Intel Core i7 Desktop Processor:
  • Up to 5.00 GHz maximum frequency
  • 12/20 cores/threads
  • 25 MB cache

As you can see, some generations have lower characteristics than the previous ones. However, moving to a higher generation also allows you to take advantage of new technologies and compatibilities.

Meaning of suffixes

It makes it possible to identify the technical advances of the processor, but also the type of system to which it can be connected.

• No suffix, or S: designed for office automation, they offer options to match a certain number of needs and/or budgets.
• H: if you are laptop enthusiasts, this letter can only speak to you. Indeed, these are processors, more or less powerful, mobile for laptops.
• K: for those who wish to perform overclocking (OC), these processors allow it. The OC allows you to achieve CPU performance beyond the initial specifications.
• F: processor that does not have integrated graphics. Impossible to connect a screen to it and will always have to go with a separate graphics card.
• G: It denotes a CPU with additional integrated graphics.

Understand the features

As said above, the range of processors alone does not justify your use. To simplify, it is possible to use i3 processors that are sometimes more efficient than an i5 depending on the application. We will not return to the choice of the range, which you will find the explanations above, but on the deciphering of the basic elements present on the technical sheet of the processor.

• Hearts: For this, let’s take a car garage as an example. With four hearts he can repair four cars at the same time.
• Threads: Threads are the mechanics. In a bid to earn more money, while you can’t bring in more than 4 cars, you can increase the number of mechanics working on them to improve the running speed. 4 Cores for 4 Threads means you have one mechanic per car. They are usually in pairs. Thus, it is possible to have 4/8 or 4/16. Note that when the number of Threads exceeds the amount of cores, this is called Hyper-Threading.
• Frequency: evaluates how quickly tasks will be performed by the processor. The higher the frequency, the more efficient it is.
• Turboboost: it improves the processing speed for heavy work. Thus, the easy tasks are executed in initial frequencies, while the more important ones with a higher cadence.

Overview Intel Core i9-12900K

For the production of our article: Properly mounting your PC Gamer in 2022. We had the opportunity to mount the processor Intel Core i9-12900K the characteristics of which are as follows.

• Number of cores: 16
• Number of threads: 24
• Max Turbo Frequency: 5.20GHz
• Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 5.10GHz
• Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency: 3.90GHz
• Performance-core Base Frequency: 3.20GHz
• Efficient-core Base Frequency: 2.40GHz
• Hidden : 30MB Intel Smart Cache
• Total L2 Cache: 14MB
• Initial processor power: 125W
• Maximum power : 241W

To find out if this processor is compatible with your motherboard or simply to choose a suitable one, we invite you to read our article: How to choose your motherboard?