Intel Core i9-12900KS Review – Fast, Juicy, Hot and Dumb

1. Introducing the Core i9-12900KS2. What is a KS? Time to get Testing3. CPU Testing: Cinebench R15 and R234. Testing: Handbrake, 3DMark and Far Cry 65. Games: Watch Dogs: Legion and Marvel's GotG6. Testing: CPU Temperature and Power7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Intel introduced us to the concept of the KS processor in 2019 as you can see in Luke's review of the Core i9-9900KS. While we don't think it makes much sense to call a Special Edition KS when you could just as easily call it SE, the principle is easy enough to grasp. Intel selects the best CPUs in a process named binning, plonks them in a pretty package and jacks up the price. You pay more money for a CPU that draws more power and demands better cooling and in return you get higher clock speeds and better performance.

You can compare the Core i9-12900K and Core i9-12900KS by clicking this link however the key points are these:

• Core i9-12900K runs at 5.3GHz on one core and 5.0GHz on all cores.
• Core i9-12900KS runs at 5.5GHz on two cores and 5.2GHz on all cores.
• Base power increased from 125W to 150W. Maximum Turbo power remains at 241W.
• The KS is not part of Intel’s Stable IT Platform Program.

Testing

In our video we explain how we started our review process by testing with the Core i9-12900K CPU on a Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master motherboard and then switched over to the Core i9-12900KS, fully expecting to see a boost in performance. Instead we ran into a few issues and first switched out the motherboard for an MSI MEG Z690 Unify and then replaced the Corsair H150i Elite LCD for a custom loop arrangement.

Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i9-12900KS (16 cores/24 threads)
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H150i Elite LCD
• Motherboards:
• Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
• MSI MEG Z690 Unify
• Memory: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200
• Graphics card: Palit RTX 3080 Gaming Pro 10GB
• Power supply: Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
• SSD: 500GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 M.2 NVMe
• OS: Windows 11

Custom Loop Cooling:

• CPU Block: Corsair XC7 RGB Pro
• Pump/reservoir: EK-XRES 100 DDC MX 3.1 PWM
• Radiator: EK Coolstream SE360
• Fans: 3x Phanteks T30

CPU Testing

In Blender 3.1we can see that higher clock speeds deliver better performance. It is a nice, simple narrative that shows the KS in a good light.

BAPCo CrossMark

BAPCo CrossMark is interesting as the KS on Auto settings tops the chart by a small margin which suggests the bursty increase in clock speeds delivers better results than a fixed speed overclock.

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