The Intel Core i9-12900K also posts a higher single-core score than any desktop CPU on the market today.
User hw_reveal recently posted an image on Twitter showing the Intel Core i9-12900K scoring 30,549 points in the multi-core Cinebench R23 test. Several qualification samples of Intel's 12th-gen "Alder Lake" chips have already turned up in China, selling for more than 1000 USD, and partner manufacturers are most likely testing the CPUs as well, so the leaked image could well be genuine.
The test was run on a Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Ultra motherboard with DDR5-5200 RAM. What stands out about the score is that the Core i9-12900K appears not to have been tuned, modified, or overclocked in any way. The result beats both the AMD Threadripper 2990WX (30,054 points) and the stock Ryzen 9 5950X (usually around 28,000 points). The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X retails for 799 USD, so if the recent leaks are right and the Core i9-12900K costs just 605 USD, that would be remarkably impressive.
This level of performance may come down to Intel's hybrid architecture, which combines high-performance cores with power-efficient cores in a single chip. We haven't seen the single-core CPU score, but hw_reveal says it is a little over 2000 points, which would be higher than any desktop CPU on the market today. You can find the full Cinebench R23 score rankings here.
If the leak is accurate, this would be a turning point for Intel. Intel's 12th-gen CPUs are expected to launch in late 2021, as early as October. Let's wait and see whether the flagship "Alder Lake" chip's real-world performance lives up to the rumors.
Key takeaways:
- Leak shows the Intel Core i9-12900K scoring 30,549 points in the multi-core Cinebench R23 test
- The Intel Core i9-12900K appears not to have been tuned, modified, or overclocked in any way
- The score beats both the AMD Threadripper 2990WX (30,054 points) and the stock Ryzen 9 5950X (usually around 28,000 points)
- The Core i9-12900K reportedly also scores over 2000 points in single-core, higher than every desktop CPU on the market today
- The test was run on a Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Ultra motherboard with DDR5-5200 RAM
