To demonstrate the performance gap, I compared Intel’s best laptop CPUs from the 11th and the new 12th generation.
INTEL CORE I9 12900HK VS I9 11980HK: SPECS
| i9 11980HK | i9 12900HK | |
| CORES/THREADS | 8C/16T | 14C (69+8E) / 20T |
| SINGLE CORE TURBO | 5.0GHZ | P 5.0GHZ / E 3.8GHZ |
| ALL CORE TURBO | 4.5GHZ | P 4.3GHZ / E 3.6GHZ |
| L3 CACHE | 24MB | 24MB |
| TDP | “45W” | “45W” |
| PCIE FOR DGPU | 8X OR 16 PCIE 4.0 | 8X PCIE 4.0 |
| RELEASED | MAY 2021 | JAN 2022 |
| GRAPHICS | INTEL UHD | INTEL IRIS XE |
| MEMORY | DDR4-3200 | DDR4-3200 or DDR5-4800 |
As you can see, there are some significant differences between the two Core i9 processors. The number of cores and threads has increased significantly.
Compared to last year’s 11th gen Tiger Lake chips, which had eight cores and sixteen threads, Intel’s 12th gen Alder Lake chips have fourteen cores and twenty threads.
Most notable is the shift to a hybrid architecture with P and E cores in the 12th generation. We’ve had regular cores before with hyperthreading, and this is basically what the older 11th generation has as well. P cores, or performance cores, are the same. In the new E cores, which are efficient cores, there are smaller, lower-powered cores that perform less critical background tasks without hyperthreading.
INTEL CORE I9 12900HK VS I9 11980HK: LAPTOPS TESTED
I’m using MSI’s GE76 gaming laptop for both 11th and 12th generation testing to ensure that the results are as fair as possible. Intel 12th generation laptops can use DDR4, but more expensive models like this one use the newer DDR5, so that’s going to play a role in this comparison.
INTEL CORE I9 12900HK VS I9 11980HK: PERFORMANCE
Cinebench R23
Cinebench R23 – Battery Power
The performance of the 12th generation when running on battery power was also better. When both laptops are powered from the wall, the 12900HK has a 42% higher multi core score than the older 11980HK. Despite the fact that both laptops lose performance when running on battery, the 12th generation chip now outperforms the 11th generation by 49%, a larger margin than when both were plugged in.
Geekbench 5
Geekbench also evaluates a variety of workloads and combines the results into a single overall score. With 12th gen, the single core score was 18% higher, while the multi core score was 43% higher.
CrossMark
CrossMark is a cross-platform benchmark that assesses overall system responsiveness and performance.
In comparison to other applications, the differences were minor, with a 15 to 17 percent boost with 12th gen. This test also includes a number of subscores, allowing us to dig deeper into the data.
Out of the three measured categories, it appears that creativity has seen the most improvement with 12th generation.
Battery Life
The 99.9Wh batteries in both laptops are identical. I tested both with the discrete Nvidia graphics disabled via device manager, which I guess they didn’t like because the battery life of both fell far short of what it would have been if I just left the Nvidia GPUs enabled with optimus turned on. In this YouTube video playback test with only the Intel iGPU, the 12th gen machine lasted 17% longer.
