Left · AMD
AMD Ryzen 5 9600
Spec score
Spec score 67
$239
Amazon US, Oct 24
Ryzen 5 9600 against Core i5-12600K
Ryzen 5 9600 leads on the overall index. The price beside each button is the Amazon US reading where ScoutPrices has one; the comparison below is worked on typical prices.
Right · Intel
Intel Core i5-12600K
Spec score
Spec score 61
$297
typical price
Which one for what
Office & everyday
Ryzen 5 9600left
71 vs 66 on the office & everyday blend.
Coding & development
Ryzen 5 9600left
64 vs 61 on the coding & development blend.
Light gaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
73 vs 65 on the light gaming blend.
Gaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
71 vs 63 on the gaming blend.
Heavy gaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
70 vs 62 on the heavy gaming blend.
Content creation
Ryzen 5 9600left
58 vs 56 on the content creation blend.
3D & rendering
Either
Within 1 points; buy on price.
Gaming & streaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
63 vs 58 on the gaming & streaming blend.
AI & local models
Either
Within 1 points; buy on price.
Head to head
Scores
Indices out of 100 on ScoutSpecs' own scale, one per kind of work. They are not frames per second and not a measurement of any one sample.
Spec score
Ryzen 5 9600: 67
Core i5-12600K: 61
6 ptsto the left
Gaming
Ryzen 5 9600: 71
Core i5-12600K: 61
10 ptsto the left
Multi-core
Ryzen 5 9600: 40
Core i5-12600K: 43
3 ptsto the right
Single-core
Ryzen 5 9600: 87
Core i5-12600K: 79
8 ptsto the left
Price and value
Worked on typical prices, the figures the comparison is built on.
Value, points per $100
Ryzen 5 9600: 23.7
Core i5-12600K: 20.5
16%to the left
Typical price
Ryzen 5 9600: $283
Core i5-12600K: $297
$14to the left
From the spec sheets
Cores
Ryzen 5 9600: 6
Core i5-12600K: 10
67%to the right
Threads
Ryzen 5 9600: 12
Core i5-12600K: 16
33%to the right
Boost clock
Ryzen 5 9600: 5.2 GHz
Core i5-12600K: 4.9 GHz
6%to the left
Turbo power
Ryzen 5 9600: 88 W
Core i5-12600K: 150 W
70%to the left
The verdict
- The Ryzen 5 9600 leads in games by 16%.
- The Core i5-12600K has 7% more all-core throughput for renders, compiles and exports.
- The Ryzen 5 9600 is 10% quicker in single-threaded work, which is most of what a desktop does.
- The Ryzen 5 9600 typically costs $14 less.
- Per dollar, the Ryzen 5 9600 is the better buy: 23.7 points per $100 against 20.5.
Specifications
| Spec | Ryzen 5 9600 | Core i5-12600K |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 5 | Alder Lake |
| Socket | AM5 | LGA1700 |
| Cores / threads | 6 / 12 | 10 / 16 (better) |
| Base clock | 3.8 GHz (better) | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost clock | 5.2 GHz (better) | 4.9 GHz |
| TDP / turbo power | 65 / 88 W (better) | 125 / 150 W |
| Memory | DDR5 | DDR4 or DDR5 |
| Built-in graphics | Yes | Yes |
| Cooler in the box | Yes (better) | No |
| Brand | AMD | Intel |
| Released | 2025 (better) | 2021 |
| Typical price | $283 (better) | $297 |
The better figure of each pair is in green, with a tick.