The Intel 12th Gen Core i9-12900K Review: Hybrid Performance Brings Hybrid Complexity
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Andrei Frumusanu on November 4, 2021 9:00 AM ESTCPU Tests: SPEC MT Performance - DDR5 Advantage
Multi-threaded performance is where things become very interesting for Alder Lake, where the chip can now combine its 8 P-cores with its 8 E-cores. As we saw, the 8 E-cores are nothing to sneeze about, but another larger consideration for MT performance is DDR5. While in the ST results we didn’t see much change in the performance of the cores, in MT scenarios when all cores are hammering the memory, having double the memory channels as well as +50% more bandwidth is going to be extremely beneficial for Alder Lake.
As we noted, the DDR5 vs DDR4 results showcase a very large performance gap between the two memory technologies in MT scenarios. Running a total of 24 threads, 16 for the SMT-enabled P-cores, and 8 for the E-cores, Alder Lake is able to take the performance crown in quite a lot of the workloads. There are still cases where AMD’s 16-core setup with larger cores are able to perform better, undoubtedly also partly attributed to 64MB of on-chip cache.
Compared to the 11900K, the new 12900K showcases giant leaps, especially when paired with DDR5.
In the FP suite, the DDR5 advantage in some workloads is even larger, as the results scale beyond that of the pure theoretical +50% bandwidth improvement. What’s important for performance is not just the theoretical bandwidth, but the actual utilised bandwidth, and again, the doubled up memory channels of DDR5 here are seemingly contributing to extremely large increases, if the workload can take advantage of it.
In the aggregate results, there’s very clearly two conclusions, depending on whether you use the chip with DDR5 or DDR4.
With DDR4, Alder Lake and the 12900K in particular, is able to showcase very good and solid increases in performance, thanks to the IPC gains on the Golden Cove core, but most importantly, also thanks to the extra 8 Gracemont cores, which do carry their own weight. The 12900K falls behind AMD’s 5900X with DDR4, which is fair given the pricing of the chips here are generally in line with teach other.
With DDR5, the 12900K is able to fully stretch its multi-threaded performance legs. In less memory dependent workloads, the chip battles it out with AMD’s 16-core 5950X, winning some workloads, losing some others. In more memory dependent workloads, the DDR5 advantage is extremely clear, and the 12900K is able to blow past any competition, even slightly edging out the latest Apple M1 Max, released a few weeks ago, and notable for its memory bandwidth.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
474 Comments
View All Comments
Spunjji - Friday, November 5, 2021 - link
I thought much the same.blanarahul - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
"ArsTechnica gave a bit more info in that regard, and Alder Lake looks terrible on performance/watt."I was suspicious that this is the reason Intel finally went hybrid on mainstream. Golden Cove can have horrible perf/watt since Gracemont exists for low power scenarios.
Maxiking - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
listening to arse technica in 2k21 lolmichael2k - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
It's data. Do you just discount data?The Garden Variety - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
Well, you at least have to appreciate that Maxiking saved significant time and effort by typing "2k21" instead of "2021". Attention to efficiency is something we can all respect and admire in MMXXI.m53 - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
[Intel 12th gen consumes less power in gaming across the board vs Ryzen 5000 series](https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/qmw9fl/why... [Even the Multi threaded perf per watt is also better for 12900K compared to 5900X](https://twitter.com/capframex/status/1456244849477... It is only specific cases where 12900k need to beat 5950x in multi threaded loads it needs to crank up more power. But for typical users Intel is both the perf /watt and perf /dollar champion.Bobbyjones - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
Until you look at the gaming power consumption and realize Intel is beating AMD in efficiency in games and general use. Check igorslab's review. Its only in the highly threaded workstation applications like blender or synthetics that use 100% of load that Intel starts using quite a bit of power. But 99% of users will never do those, all they care about is gaming, browsing, video, etc.Blastdoor - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
So if 99% of users don’t need multiple cores, I guess intel made a huge mistake in including them. They could have just made a dual core processor and “99%” of users would have been just fine.I think it’s HILARIOUS that people are arguing that the efficiency of this thing is just fine so long as you don’t actually fully utilize it.
Hulk - Thursday, November 4, 2021 - link
You mean like how I can drive my Civic in a sane manner and get 40mpg or hammer it and get 20mpg? Push the CPU (or automobile) out of it's efficient zone and it becomes less efficient. You can do the same thing with Zen 3 CPU's. They get a little faster and use a lot more power. Same as Intel CPU's.jerrylzy - Friday, November 5, 2021 - link
12900K is no Civic. More like a Ferrari. If you never push that Ferrari, why buy it? Buy a Civic then (12600)?