Left · AMD
AMD Ryzen 5 9600
Spec score
Spec score 67
$239
Amazon US, Oct 24
Ryzen 5 9600 against Core i9-12900K
Core i9-12900K 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 i9-12900K
Spec score
Spec score 71
$279
typical price
Which one for what
Office & everyday
Core i9-12900Kright
71 vs 76 on the office & everyday blend.
Coding & development
Core i9-12900Kright
64 vs 74 on the coding & development blend.
Light gaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
73 vs 71 on the light gaming blend.
Gaming
Ryzen 5 9600left
71 vs 69 on the gaming blend.
Heavy gaming
Either
Within 1 points; buy on price.
Content creation
Core i9-12900Kright
58 vs 71 on the content creation blend.
3D & rendering
Core i9-12900Kright
53 vs 71 on the 3D & rendering blend.
Gaming & streaming
Core i9-12900Kright
63 vs 70 on the gaming & streaming blend.
AI & local models
Core i9-12900Kright
57 vs 72 on the AI & local models blend.
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 i9-12900K: 71
4 ptsto the right
Gaming
Ryzen 5 9600: 71
Core i9-12900K: 66
5 ptsto the left
Multi-core
Ryzen 5 9600: 40
Core i9-12900K: 68
28 ptsto the right
Single-core
Ryzen 5 9600: 87
Core i9-12900K: 82
5 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 i9-12900K: 25.4
7%to the right
Typical price
Ryzen 5 9600: $283
Core i9-12900K: $279
$4to the right
From the spec sheets
Cores
Ryzen 5 9600: 6
Core i9-12900K: 16
167%to the right
Threads
Ryzen 5 9600: 12
Core i9-12900K: 24
100%to the right
Boost clock
Ryzen 5 9600: 5.2 GHz
Core i9-12900K: 5.2 GHz
level
Turbo power
Ryzen 5 9600: 88 W
Core i9-12900K: 241 W
174%to the left
The verdict
- The Ryzen 5 9600 leads in games by 8%.
- The Core i9-12900K has 70% more all-core throughput for renders, compiles and exports.
- The Ryzen 5 9600 is 6% quicker in single-threaded work, which is most of what a desktop does.
Specifications
| Spec | Ryzen 5 9600 | Core i9-12900K |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 5 | Alder Lake |
| Socket | AM5 | LGA1700 |
| Cores / threads | 6 / 12 | 16 / 24 (better) |
| Base clock | 3.8 GHz (better) | 3.2 GHz |
| Boost clock | 5.2 GHz | 5.2 GHz |
| TDP / turbo power | 65 / 88 W (better) | 125 / 241 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 | $279 (better) |
The better figure of each pair is in green, with a tick.