Intel Core i9-12900KF

After 2.5 years, this processor is still amazing and seems like a great deal now. With memory becoming impossible to procure at any reasonable price, savings anywhere in PC building seems worth it. The entire line of 12th gen intel CPU's were one of their last extremely stable and reliable series, with the 13th and 14th gens having various post-production issues. This i9-12900KF chip in particular runs a bit hot (at least mine does ~45-50C idle on stock), but I've been able to easily undervolt it to more reasonable temperatures (~35-40C idle) while on both stock and overclocked settings (air cooled w/ thermalright peerless assassin 120 SE). For the last year, I've only been undervolting though as I've been more than satisfied with its capability in both multi-tasking scenarios and gaming. From video recording and editing; virtualized programming environments; to playing modern games on both windows and linux - this chip is more than capable and I do not feel close to needing an upgrade yet.

JK · 2026-01-02 · via amazon

12 monster cores, a absolute beast for any situation. After 1 year of use, it’s never failed or overheated. Scores very high in gaming and workbench performance. Heavily recommend.

Lucas Shaffner · 2026-04-29 · via amazon

Update: August 25, 2024: New case and OLED upgrade makes this overall PC upgrade even better. The display is the LG Ultra Gear 27GS95QE. The case is the NZXT H6 Flow. Added some extra pictures to display the new style...along with a clean look and some Diorama fun, courtesy of the fish-tank style case...YOOOO JOE! COOOOOBRAAAAAAA LALALAL! The i9 12900KF is still holding strong and usage stays nice and low in games while the GPU usage is maxed out, the sweet spot for no bottle necking. After a year, I definitely still recommend this cpu with the addition of the cpu bracket especially since the 13th and 14th gen are non failures as of this date. Good luck with what ever you choose! Picked this cpu up in August 2023. I upgraded from an i7 4770K to this beast. The i7 4770k was still capable, but honestly I wanted RCPS3 to run better because their getting closer to 75% of the library being playable. Also, I could tell my 8gb of g-skill sniper ram was holding me back and i could not for the life of me find 16gb of ram available that would run with trusted compatibility with my current board. The i9 12900kf hardly touches 20% usage for any new game and older games are even less usage while the video card sits at 99-100% usage, this is the sweet spot for no bottle necking and high performance. The video card is an RTX 2060 Super @ 1440P on Dell's 32" monitor S3220DGF. With zero brightness and contrast at a hundred, the colors pop. I'd say comparable to OLED with those settings or at least IPS. The CPU is paired with the Z690 Strix motherboard and 32gb of Corsair vengeance ram. 32gb is the sweet spot. I watched a Linus Tech Tip video that said 8gb is good enough but when I run MSI afterburner along with Riva Tuner-statistics , the ram usage is usually between 10 and 12gb's used and sometimes as high as 14gb, with no known programs of mine running in the background. Perhaps we definitely passed the 8gb minimum by now. Itunes, Video Proc Converter, RPCS3, and Virtual DJ are some of my most demanding apps and this cpu just handles them like it's lite work I'm throwing at it. Well, there's the value. Highly recommending this chip but if you do go for it, be sure to pick up the Thermalright CPU Contact Frame for LGA 1700 Retrofit Kit or else, your cpu will burn, literally, that’s the only caveat to the 12th generation.

Spiral · 2023-11-03 · via amazon

I am extremely impressed with the performance of the Unlocked LGA1700 600 Series Chipset. With its 125W power, it provides exceptional speed and efficiency for my gaming and productivity needs. The chipset is rock-solid, supporting my Intel Core processor without a hitch, and it delivers smooth multitasking and impressive overall performance. Overclocking capabilities are a bonus, allowing me to push my system to new levels without compromising stability. If you're looking for a high-quality chipset that offers great performance and power efficiency, I highly recommend this LGA1700 600 Series chipset.

Clem May · 2025-04-19 · via amazon

This is a GREAT cpu it has good value it’s runs smooth easy to install it’s stability is good to needs some cooling but it runs me games really well

Nathan Jaeger · 2025-11-04 · via amazon

MSI

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Newegg (Open Box)

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VALUE SCORE

FUTURE-PROOFING

Cores

14C/14T

Boost

5.2GHz

Socket

LGA1851

TDP

125W

Cores

16C/undefinedT

Boost

5.3GHz

Socket

LGA1851

TDP

125W