In the first batch of 12th generation Core, the mid-range / mainstream small partners are most concerned about the i5-12600K, correspondingly, the second batch of products from the i5-12600K closest i5-12600K must also attract a lot of attention, only one less K of it, performance and 12600K can be worse? Isn't it a more affordable mid-range option? Today, let's take a look at it with the help of the actual test results.
It should be noted here that the K-type Core with the same "name" is not only allowed to overclock, in fact, the base frequency and turbo frequency settings are also higher, such as 12600K is 100MHz higher than the highest turbo frequency of 12600. In addition, K-type Core is also a relatively good quality chip, generally power consumption and heat generation is slightly lower, so it is more inclined to use high frequencies in operation, which is the origin of the performance gap between the two.
So, how big is the difference between these reasons? Let's take a look at the tests based on the B660 motherboard, DDR4 3600 16GB×2 memory, and RTX 3090 graphics card. Compared to CPUs using Z590 and X570 motherboards, the other configurations are exactly the same. The operating system is Win11, with NV's 496.13 public version driver. First, let's look at the comparison between theoretical performance and professional performance.
The single-core performance of the 12th generation Core is really nothing to say, plus the frequency of i5-12600 is relatively high, so it is a big cut away from the opponent Ryzen 5 5600X, close to 12600K. But the optimization of the Ryzen architecture for multi-core/multi-threading is really good, 12600K has several more performance cores, plus the frequency of 12600 multi-core operation is certainly not as good as single-core turbo, the result is that it is very close to 12400, or not as good as the opponent and his brother. So, what about gaming performance that emphasizes single-core performance?
Sure enough, in most games, the i5-12600 followed the i5-12600K, sitting firmly in the second place in the mid-range gaming CPU. So, it's obvious how to choose this CPU. For everyday use and gaming, it is really a very cost-effective choice, and the power consumption is much lower, which can make the computer more calm. As for the design and processing of video, don't care about the difference, the more high-end Core or Ryzen with strong multi-core performance is indeed much stronger.