Updated March 25, 2022, at 10:50 a.m. ET: It appears the Newegg listing has been taken down.
What you need to know
- Newegg has started selling the Intel Core i9-12900KS, the new Alder Lake desktop-class flagship processor.
- Compared to the Core i9-12900K, this new CPU brings higher clock speeds and thermal limits (150W at base).
- Intel's new flagship Core i9-12900KS is available now for $800.
Newegg has a new Intel flagship processor available right now that surpasses the Intel Core i9-12900K. This new king of Alder Lake is the Intel Core i9-12900KS, priced at $799.99. As spotted by our partners over at Tom's Hardware, this is just shy of $200 above the asking price of the now relegated Core i9-12900K.
But what's different with this new CPU? Intel has managed to bump the clock speeds for both Performance and Efficient cores, hitting a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 speed of 5.5GHz. It has the same 16 core hybrid configuration with eight Golden Cove performance cores and eight energy-efficient Gracemont cores clocked at 3.4GHz and 2.5GHz, respectively.
| Category | Intel Core i9-12900KS | Intel Core i9-12900K | AMD Ryzen 9 5950X |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | 16/24 | 16/24 | 16/32 |
| Base Frequency | P: 3.4GHzE: 2.5GHz | P: 3.2GHzE: 2.4GHz | 3.4GHz |
| Boost | P: 5.2GHzE: 4.0GHz | P: 5.1GHzE: 3.9GHz | 4.9GHz |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | 5.5GHz | 5.2GHz | ❌ |
| Memory | DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800Up to 128GB | DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800Up to 128GB | DDR4-3200Up to 128GB |
| L3 Cache | 30MB | 30MB | 32MB |
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | ❌ |
| PCIe | PCIe Gen 5.0 x 20 | PCIe Gen 5.0 x 20 | PCIe Gen 4.0 x 20 |
| TDP | 150W | 125W | 105W |
| Manufacturing Node | 10nm | 10nm | 7nm |
| Socket | LGA1700 | LGA1700 | AM4 |
| Price | $800 | $590 | $799 |
The UHD Graphics 770 from Intel is once again present, so too is the 12MB of L2 cache and 30MB of L3 cache. The Core i9-12900KS will be able to push a little harder out the box before any overclocking is considered. I've put the new Core i9-12900KS up against its older sibling and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in the above table.
In order to achieve this 5.5GHz boost clock speeds, Intel is making use of the company's new Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost technology, which will likely require BIOS updates on supporting motherboards. This puts Intel in quite the comfortable position against AMD with a comparable offering to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which itself struggled to completely outmatch the Core i9-12900K.
If the Core i9-12900K wasn't fast enough out the gate, you may want to consider the Core i9-12900KS for a new PC build. This beast has higher core clock speeds and TDP.
