INTEL CORE i5 12600K

THE REAL STAR OF THE 12TH GEN SHOW

The humble Core i5 is the CPU that matters most for gamers. It’s cheaper than a Core i7 or Core i9, but it still offers the fundamentals of what makes those chips great for gaming. With the Core i5 12600K that’s no different, though that may be understating what this chip can really do.

That’s because the Core i5 12600K isn’t the modest CPU you expect: It’s the equivalent of the top previous-gen chip in a package that’s almost half the price, at around $290. That means it only took one generation, and less than 12 months, for Intel to take its Core i9 performance and deliver it inside a far cheaper Core i5 package. Since it’s not pushing to the very limit of what Alder Lake can deliver in a single die, either, it’s also a more power savvy design than the Core i9 12900K. That makes for a more