Help with choosing a 12th gen CPU?

[Vibora]

Hey guys, im planning on buying a new PC and Id like to ask a few questions:

1. Is there a point going for the 12900k/ks/kf if I dont plan on overclocking them and whats the difference between all of these variations?

2. Whats the difference between the 12900 and the 12900f?

[CommanderAlex]

20 minutes ago, Vibora said:

1. Is there a point going for the 12900k/ks/kf if I dont plan on overclocking them and whats the difference between all of these variations?

12900K is overclockable, hence the "K". You will need a Z-series motherboard to be able to overclock the processor (also more expensive typically).

12900KS is overclockable and has a higher TDP, so higher power consumption for more performance. 

12900KF is overclockable but has a disabled iGPU, so you will need a dedicated graphics card for video.

19 minutes ago, Vibora said:

2. Whats the difference between the 12900 and the 12900f?

12900 is just a locked-frequency 12900K that does not allow for overclocking. Anytime you have an "F" suffix at the end of Intel's Core CPU naming, just means the iGPU is disabled (Refer to above at 12900KF). 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

12700(f) is best value for gaming, but if you can take advantage of the ecores then the 12900 is worth it

 

If you dont overclock dont bother with a k cpu

K cpus can be used on non z boards but no multi adjustment (cpu oc is dead anyways so who cares, ram oc is better but maniacs only due to tendancy of driving you insane)

[Tan3l6]

Just reminding Raptor lake (13th) gen is upcoming.

[IPD]

Personally, unless you are a power user and determined to overlock and seriously multi-task, I see no reason to go above an i5, such as the 12600K.  If you have a quantifiable need for the 2 additional cores over the i5, then go with an i7 such as the 12700K.  I doubt VERY much that efficiency cores have much in the way of optimized usage for virtually any software at this point.

 

i9 is really just bleeding edge tech with a price premium that about 99% of users will not be able to take advantage of.

[IPD]

4 minutes ago, Tan3l6 said:

Just reminding Raptor lake (13th) gen is upcoming.

It's also considered a stop-gap before Meteor Lake.  And still LGA1700.  So potentially something worth considering an upgrade for DOWN THE ROAD, but not really worth holding out for.

[Vibora]

21 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

12900K is overclockable, hence the "K". You will need a Z-series motherboard to be able to overclock the processor (also more expensive typically).

12900KS is overclockable and has a higher TDP, so higher power consumption for more performance. 

12900KF is overclockable but has a disabled iGPU, so you will need a dedicated graphics card for video.

12900 is just a locked-frequency 12900K that does not allow for overclocking. Anytime you have an "F" suffix at the end of Intel's Core CPU naming, just means the iGPU is disabled (Refer to above at 12900KF). 

Thanks for explaining and clearing that to me, appreciate it.

9 minutes ago, IPD said:

Personally, unless you are a power user and determined to overlock and seriously multi-task, I see no reason to go above an i5, such as the 12600K.  If you have a quantifiable need for the 2 additional cores over the i5, then go with an i7 such as the 12700K.  I doubt VERY much that efficiency cores have much in the way of optimized usage for virtually any software at this point.

 

i9 is really just bleeding edge tech with a price premium that about 99% of users will not be able to take advantage of.

I mean, my plan is 4k gaming and using VMs for my personal work.

[IPD]

4k gaming is a GPU demand process with current hardware.  Clock increases having marginal impact aside, I doubt the efficacy of increasing from 6-8 cores will make a measurable impact on framerate.  But I'll defer to someone with more expertise.

 

VM is relative, as it really depends on what you are doing.  Graphic design/editing, video compression/editing, etc--will put more demand on a system than using office productivity software.  And based on what I've seen from VM users--the bottleneck is almost always the network/system, not the hardware on the user's end.

[IPD]

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-12900k-and-core-i5-12600k-review-retaking-the-gaming-crown/4

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 hours ago, Vibora said:

I mean, my plan is 4k gaming and using VMs for my personal work

4k is gpu heavy but how many vms, what are said vms used for, and how many cores per vm?

 

You may consider a 7950x instead but 13900k has tons more cores but only in ecore form