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Intel Core i9-12900K Draws Just 233W at Stock (4.9GHz), Up to 400W When Overclocked to 5.3GHz

Overclocking has taken a backseat ever since advanced turbo boost algorithms were introduced in the CPU and GPU markets. This isn’t going to change with Intel’s next-gen Alder Lake processors, as demonstrated by @Raichu. At the stock configuration, the 12th Gen Core i9-12900K draws just 233W at a voltage of 1.275v. The performance (Golden Cove) cores run at 4.9GHz and the efficiency cores top out at 3.7GHz.

In comparison, when you overclock the performance cores to 5.2GHz, the power consumption increases to 330W at a voltage of 1.38v. Pushing the Golden Cove cores further to 5.3GHz (at 1.44v), the power consumption increases to a whopping 400W. That means we’re looking at an increase of nearly 2x in power draw with a mere 400MHz increase in the boost clock.

12900K: P-core: 5.3G, E-core: 3.7G; CPUZ SSE Power: 300W; AIDA64 AVX FPU: 400W (Source: HXL)

What does this mean? It means that the heyday of overclocking is over. Both Intel and AMD now release their newest processors with the boost clocks already pushed very close to the ceiling, leaving little to no room for overclocking the chips without a substantial increase in power and voltage.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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