Intel Core i7-3970X vs Intel Core i9-12900K. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• Segment
  Desktop / Server Desktop / Server
• Family
  Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition Intel Core i9
• Generation
  3 12
• CPU group
  Intel Core i 3000X Intel Core i 12000
• Predecessor
  -- Intel Core i9-11900K
• Successor
  -- Intel Core i9-13900K

Basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base and turbo frequency, and cache size. These parameters indirectly tell about the speed of the processor, the higher they are the better.

• Frequency
  3.50 GHz 3.70 GHz
• CPU Cores
  6 16
• Turbo (1 Core)
  4.00 GHz 5.30 GHz
• CPU Threads
  12 24
• Hyperthreading
  Yes Yes
• Overclocking
  Yes Yes
• Core architecture
  normal hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• A core
  -- 8x Golden Cove
• B core
  -- 8x Gracemont

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• GPU name
  no iGPU Intel Iris Xe Graphics 32 (Alder Lake S)
• GPU frequency
  0.40 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 1.45 GHz
• Execution units
  32
• Shader
  256
• Max. GPU Memory
  -- 16 GB
• Max. displays
  4
• Generation
  12
• DirectX Version
  12
• Technology
  10 nm
• Release date
  Q4/2021

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No Decode / Encode
• h264
  No Decode / Encode
• VP9
  No Decode / Encode
• VP8
  No Decode
• AV1
  No Decode
• AVC
  No Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  No Decode
• JPEG
  No Decode / Encode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i9-12900K and Intel Core i7-3970X. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• Memory type
  DDR3-1600 DDR4-3200DDR5-4800
• Max. Memory
  256 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  4 2
• PCIe version
  5.0
• PCIe lanes
  20

• AES-NI
  Yes Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i7-3970X and Intel Core i9-12900K to select a cooling system. Note, the TDP value refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  150 W 125 W
• TDP (PL2)
  -- 228 W / 56 s
• Tjunction max.
  -- 100 °C

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i7-3970X and Intel Core i7-3970X, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d (C2 Stepping) VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
• ISA extensions
  SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX2+
• L2-Cache
  -- 3.75 MB
• L3-Cache
  15.00 MB 30.00 MB
• Architecture
  Sandy Bridge E Alder Lake S
• Technology
  32 nm 10 nm
• Socket
  LGA 2011 LGA 1700
• Release date
  Q4/2012 Q4/2021
• Part Number
  -- BX8071512900K