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Intel Core i9-12900HK
Alder Lake-H's unlocked flagship. Same 6P+8E layout as the i7-12700H but with a 5.0GHz ceiling and an unlocked multiplier, it was the fastest laptop CPU in the world at launch before the HX series took that crown weeks later.
Pros
- First 5GHz mobile Core i9
- Unlocked multiplier for overclocking-friendly chassis
- 14 cores and 20 threads with 24MB of L3
- Fastest 96-EU Iris Xe clocks in the 12th-gen H line
Cons
- Power draw and heat are extreme in thin laptops
- Barely faster than the much cheaper i7-12700H
- Efficiency far behind contemporary Apple and AMD silicon
- Superseded within months by the HX series
Below average
Computed from specs & benchmarks via our public methodology.
Full specifications
Everything we track for the Intel Core i9-12900HK
General
- Announced
- 2022
- Process
- 10 nm
- Base TDP
- 45 W
- Max TDP
- 115 W
Cores & Clocks
- Cores
- 14
- Performance cores
- 6
- Efficiency cores
- 8
- Threads
- 20
- Base clock
- 2.5 GHz
- Boost clock
- 5 GHz
- L3 cache
- 24 MB
Integrated GPU
- iGPU
- Intel Iris Xe (96 EU)
- iGPU clock
- 1,450 MHz
Memory
- Memory support
- DDR5-4800 / LPDDR5-5200 / DDR4-3200
- Max memory
- 64 GB
Benchmarks
- Geekbench 6 (single)
- 2,450
- Geekbench 6 (multi)
- 12,700
- Cinebench R23 (single)
- 1,810
- Cinebench R23 (multi)
- 17,600
- PassMark
- 28,200
Quick answers
Is the Intel Core i9-12900HK good in 2026?
The Intel Core i9-12900HK earns an Inno Score of 45.5/100 (“Below average”) based on its specs and benchmark results. Alder Lake-H's unlocked flagship. Same 6P+8E layout as the i7-12700H but with a 5.0GHz ceiling and an unlocked multiplier, it was the fastest laptop CPU in the world at launch before the HX series took that crown weeks later.
What are the key specs of the Intel Core i9-12900HK?
Cores: 14 · Threads: 20 · Boost clock: 5 GHz · Base TDP: 45 W
What are the closest alternatives to the Intel Core i9-12900HK?
Its closest rivals on InnoReviews are Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100, Apple M1 Pro (10-core), Intel Core i7-12700H — open the comparison pages for a spec-by-spec breakdown.
