PC Gamer - UK (2022-02)

HARDWARE

Review

There is still the question of platform
costs, though, and that’s probably my
biggest concern with the 12th Gen
today. Compatible motherboards with
the new Z690 chipset are pricey, and
especially so when compared to the
AM4 platform that AMD’s Ryzen
processors work with.
Yet in offering the same
performance, if not better, than the top
Intel processor in early 2021 – Rocket
Lake came out in March, people – for
nearly half the cost, Intel has won me
over with the Core i5 12600K.

INTEL’S BACK
The Core i5 12600K is the best CPU for
gaming right now, if you’re in any way a
sensible person. I’m not a sensible
person and I’d want the Core i9
12900K or Ryzen 9 5950X just
because, but if you really boil it down to
price to performance, performance per
watt, and sense check yourself for just
a moment, the Core i5 12600K is the
chip that comes out on top. There’s
some glimmer of hope that Intel may

be able to deliver enough of this chip

for its price to stick around, and that

means we might finally have a piece of

gaming hardware that actually appears

to be a good deal. With the state of

graphics cards right now, even

suggesting that feels wrong. But it’s

true, the Core i5 12600K is a good deal.

The biggest concern remains the

platform costs, but given some

decently priced Z690 motherboards,

and the release of cheaper Alder Lake

chips next year, those might drop with

a little more time.

With that said, it remains that the

Core i5 12600K is a high-end chip

masquerading as a mid-range hero, and

doing a great job of it. Place it at the

centre of your next gaming PC and you

wouldn’t be putting a foot wrong.

2

94

Faster and more efficient

than its predecessors,

this is simply the best

CPU available for PC

gaming in 2022.

VERDICT

BENCHMARKS

GAMING PERFORMANCE

CPU PACKAGE POWER

CINEBENCH R23

1505

10404

Core i9 12900K

Core 15 12600K

Core i9 11900K

Ryzen 9 5950X

Ryzen 5 5600X

1886

26434

1810

16863

1575

15293

1617

24109

Single core Multi core

24

76

Core i9 12900K

Core 15 12600K

Core i9 11900K

Ryzen 9 5950X

Ryzen 5 5600X

32

217

8

113

17

192

29

142

Idle Peak wattage

Core i9 12900K

Core 15 12600K

Core i9 11900K

Ryzen 9 5950X

Ryzen 5 5600X

134

66

188

165

Metro Exodus (DX12), Ultra, 1080p

Average (fps) Minimum (fps)

F1 2021 (DX12), Ultra, 1080p

Average (fps) Minimum (fps)

130

64

179

153

127

62

167

147

121

57

174

141

123

60

159

124