Skip to content

Main Navigation

Puget Systems Logo
  • Solutions
    • Recommended Systems For:
    • Content Creation
      • Photo Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe Lightroom Classic
        • Adobe Photoshop
      • Video Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe After Effects
        • Adobe Premiere Pro
        • DaVinci Resolve
        • Foundry Nuke
      • 3D Design and Animation
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk 3ds Max
        • Autodesk Maya
        • Blender
        • Cinema 4D
        • Houdini
        • ZBrush
      • Real-Time Engines
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Game Development
        • Unity
        • Unreal Engine
        • Virtual Production
      • Rendering
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • OctaneRender
        • Redshift
        • V-Ray
      • Digital Audio
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Ableton Live
        • FL Studio
        • Pro Tools
    • Engineering
      • CAD
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk AutoCAD
        • Autodesk Inventor
        • Autodesk Revit
        • SOLIDWORKS
      • Photogrammetry
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • ArcGIS Pro
        • Agisoft Metashape
        • Pix4D
        • RealityCapture
    • Scientific Computing
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Data Science
      • Machine Learning / AI
      • Scientific Computing
    • More
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Compact Size
      • Live Streaming
      • NVIDIA RTX Studio
      • Quiet Operation
      • Virtual Reality
  • Products
    • Intel Core i7 & i9
      Workstations with 13th Gen Intel Core i7 & i9 processors on Z690 and Z790 chipsets
    • AMD Ryzen 7 & 9
      Workstations with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors on B650 and X670 chipsets
    • AMD Threadripper PRO
      Workstations with AMD Threadripper PRO 5000 WX processors on the WRX80 chipset
    • Intel Xeon W
      Workstations with Intel Xeon W 3300 processors on the C621E chipset
    • Rackmount & Server
      Servers and workstations in rackmount chassis
    • Custom Computers
      Customize a desktop workstation from scratch
    • Custom Servers
      Customize a rackmount server from scratch
    • QNAP Network Attached Storage
      Check out our external storage options as an authorized reseller for QNAP
    • Recommended Third Party Peripherals
      View our list of recommended peripherals to use with your new PC
  • Publications
    • Articles
    • HPC Blog
    • Blog Posts
    • Case Studies
    • Podcasts
    • Press
  • Support
    • Contact Support
    • Support Articles
    • Warranty Details
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Press Kit
    • Testimonials
    • Careers
  • Talk to an Expert
  • My Account
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Hardware Articles
  4. /
  5. DaVinci Resolve Studio: Intel Core i9 12900KS Performance
DaVinci Resolve Studio: Intel Core i9 12900KS Performance

DaVinci Resolve Studio: Intel Core i9 12900KS Performance

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Matt Bach

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Test Setup
  • Benchmark Results
  • DaVinci Resolve Studio Overall Performance Analysis
  • Is the Intel Core i9 12900KS Processor Good for DaVinci Resolve Studio?

TL;DR: Intel Core i9 12900KS performance in DaVinci Resolve Studio

While the new Intel Core i9 12900KS does have a slight performance lead over the Core i9 12900K, the difference in our tests averaged out to just 2%. That is going to be almost impossible to notice for most users, and likely means that you would be better off investing the cost difference in upgrades to some other aspect of your system.

Intel definitely still holds an edge in DaVinci Resolve compared to AMD's Ryzen line, but the Core i9 12900KS doesn't do much to expand on it. There were some tests where the 12900KS did show a performance advantage of up to 8% over the i9 12900K, but those were intermixed with other tests that showed no difference, which drug the average down to just 2%.

Introduction

When Intel launched their 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors (code-named "Alder Lake") in November of 2021, they showed a terrific performance improvement over previous generations. They also made some significant changes to how their CPUs fundamentally worked, primarily through their hybrid architecture which utilizes a mix of Performance and Efficient-cores.

Since then, the wider availability of DDR5 memory and improvements in thread scheduling have allowed them to expand their performance lead over AMD in a number of workflows. And today, Intel is launching yet another model to their 12th Intel Core lineup: the Intel Core i9 12900KS.

Intel Core i9 12900KS for DaVinci Resolve Studio
Image
Intel Core i9 12900KS for DaVinci Resolve Studio

On paper, the 12900KS appears to simply be a higher binned version of the Core i9 12900K. It has the same number of cores and the same cache, but the frequency is slightly higher. The exact amount depends on which kind of core is being used as well as what type of Turbo, but at most we are looking at about a 6% increase in Turbo frequency.

To handle the higher frequency, the 12900KS has a slightly higher base power draw of 150W versus the 125W of the 12900K. Interestingly, the maximum Turbo power is the same at 241W, which means that it may not actually run much hotter under heavy load situations.

The last difference is, of course, the price. With an MSRP of $739, the 12900KS is $140 more expensive than the 12900K. This is still a bit below the $799 MSRP of the AMD Ryzen 5950X, but it certainly brings Intel and AMD closer in terms of pricing at the top of their consumer CPU lines.

CPU Model Core i9 12900K Core i9 12900KS
Total Cores/Threads 16/24 16/24
Performance Cores 8 8
Efficient Cores 8 8
Max Turbo Frequency 5.2 GHz 5.5 GHz
P-Core Max Turbo Frequency 5.1 GHz 5.2 GHz
E-Core Max Turbo Frequency 3.9 GHz 4.0 GHz
Cache 30 MB 30 MB
Processor Base Power 125 W 150 W
Maximum Turbo Power 241 W 241 W
MSRP $599 $739

In this article, we will be examining the performance of the new Intel Core i9 12900KS compared to the 12900K, as well as the AMD Ryzen 5900X and 5950X. If you are interested in how these processors compare in other applications, you can check out the summary of all our testing results – and links to more detailed analysis – in our Intel Core i9 12900KS Review Roundup article.

CTA Image
Looking for a DaVinci Resolve Workstation?

Puget Systems offers a range of powerful and reliable systems that are tailor-made for your unique workflow.

Configure a System!
CTA Image
Labs Consultation Service

Our Labs team is available to provide in-depth hardware recommendations based on your workflow.

Find Out More!

Test Setup

Listed below are the specifications of the systems we will be using for our testing:

12th Gen Intel Core Test Platform
CPU Intel Core i9 12900KS 8+8 Core ($739)
Intel Core i9 12900K 8+8 Core ($589)
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U12A
Motherboard Asus ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi
RAM 2x DDR5-4800 32GB (64GB total)
AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Test Platform
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core ($799)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core ($549)
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U12S
Motherboard Gigabyte X570 AORUS ULTRA
RAM 4x DDR4-3200 16GB (64GB total)
Shared Hardware & Software
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Hard Drive Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit (2009)
DaVinci Resolve Studio 17.4.6
PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve

*Latest drivers, OS updates, BIOS, and firmware as of March 31st, 2022

In order to see how the new Intel Core i9 12900KS performs in After Effects, we will be comparing it to the Core i9 12900K, AMD Ryzen 5900X, and AMD Ryzen 5950X. For the test itself, we will be using our PugetBench for DaVinci Resolve benchmark and the latest 17.4.6 version of DaVinci Resolve Studio. Our benchmark includes the ability to upload the results to our online database, so if you want to know how your own system compares, you can download and run the benchmark yourself.

As for the test platforms, we want to point out that due to the wider availability of DDR5 RAM, all our testing is now using DDR5 on any platform that supports it (currently just Intel Z690). We try to stay within spec for memory speed whenever possible, which is why we are using 2x32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM on the Intel platform. While the move from DDR4 to DDR5 can improve performance by a decent margin, the speed of the RAM doesn't make a big difference in most content creation applications. If you want to read more about the impact of DDR5 RAM speed, we recommend checking out our Impact of DDR5 Speed on Content Creation Performance article.

Benchmark Results

While our benchmark presents various scores based on the performance of each test, we also like to provide the individual results for you to examine. If there is a specific task that is a hindrance to your workflow, examining the raw results for that task is going to be much more applicable than the scores that our benchmark calculated.

Feel free to skip to the next sections for our analysis of these results to get a wider view of how each configuration performs.

Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio benchmark performance
Image
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio benchmark performance

DaVinci Resolve Studio Overall Performance Analysis

Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark Overall Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 4K MediaScore
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 8K Media Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark FusionScore
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark Overall Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 4K MediaScore
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 8K Media Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark FusionScore
Previous Next
System Image
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark Overall Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 4K MediaScore
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark 8K Media Score
Intel Core i9 12900KS DaVinci Resolve Studio Benchmark FusionScore
Previous Next

DaVinci Resolve (especially the Studio version) gets a lot of attention in the hardware industry for how well it is able to take advantage of both high-end GPUs, and multi-GPU configurations. Despite that, having the right CPU is also vitally important. You can have all the GPU power in the world to chew through things like noise reduction and OpenFX, but if you can't actually process the base media fast enough to keep up, all that GPU power is just a waste of money.

If you are considering a consumer CPU from either Intel or AMD, however, you probably aren't planning on using multiple GPUs since you really should be using either an AMD Threadripper (Pro) or Intel Xeon W platform. But if anything, that makes it even more important to get as much CPU power as your budget allows.

Unfortunately, the new Intel Core i9 12900KS doesn't provide much in the way of "return on investment" compared to the Core i9 12900K. From an overall perspective, it only scored 2% higher, with most of that coming from the RED media and Fusion portion of the benchmark. In some of those tests, the 12900KS was as much as 8% faster than the 12900K, but enough of the other tests were almost identical in performance that the average was dragged down to just 2%. Intel still very much holds the edge over AMD Ryzen, but the 12900KS doesn't do much to expand their lead.

Is the Intel Core i9 12900KS Processor Good for DaVinci Resolve Studio?

While the new Intel Core i9 12900KS does have a slight performance lead over the Core i9 12900K, the difference in our tests averaged out to just 2%. That is going to be almost impossible to notice for most users, and likely means that you would be better off investing the cost difference in upgrades to some other aspect of your system.

Intel definitely still holds an edge in DaVinci Resolve compared to AMD's Ryzen line, but the Core i9 12900KS doesn't do much to expand on it. There were some tests where the 12900KS did show a performance advantage of up to 8% over the i9 12900K, but those were intermixed with other tests that showed no difference, which drug the average down to just 2%.

In summary, if you are looking for a CPU in the sub-$1000 range, we would currently recommend sticking with the Intel Core i9 12900K. The higher $739 MSRP of the 12900KS is still less than the $799 MSRP of the AMD Ryzen 5950X, but it is hard to justify the higher cost compared to the 12900KS for just a few percent higher performance.

Going into our testing, we were a bit worried about the higher base power draw of the 12900KS, but throughout our testing, we didn't notice any issues. Our standard 120mm Noctua heatsink was still more than enough to keep this CPU cool, and there was no noticeable increase in fan noise.

Keep in mind that the benchmark results in this article are strictly for After Effects and that performance will vary widely in different applications. If your workflow includes other software packages (we have similar articles for a number of other applications that can be found in our Intel Core i9 12900KS Review Roundup article), you need to consider how the system will perform in those applications as well. Be sure to check our list of Hardware Articles to keep up to date on how all of these software packages – and more – perform with the latest CPUs.

CTA Image
Looking for a DaVinci Resolve Workstation?

Puget Systems offers a range of powerful and reliable systems that are tailor-made for your unique workflow.

Configure a System!
CTA Image
Labs Consultation Service

Our Labs team is available to provide in-depth hardware recommendations based on your workflow.

Find Out More!

Related Content

  • Intel Xeon W-3400 Content Creation Preview
  • NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada vs RTX A6000 for Content Creation
  • DaVinci Resolve Studio: NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Performance
  • NVIDIA GeForce 40 Series vs AMD Radeon 7000 for Content Creation
View All Related Content

Latest Content

  • Basic Guide to Identify and Remove Malware
  • Should I Upgrade My Gpu
  • Case Study with Lost Boys Interactive
  • Samsung 990 Pro Critical Firmware Update
View All
Tags: 12900KS, 5900X, 5950X, AMD Ryzen 5000 Series, DaVinci Resolve, i9 12900K, Intel 12th Gen

Who is Puget Systems?

Puget Systems builds custom PCs tailored for your workflow

Extensive in-house testing
making you more productive and giving you more performance for your dollar

Reliable workstations
with fewer crashes and blue screens means more time working, less time waiting on your computer

Support that understands
your complex workflows and can get you back up and running ASAP

Proven track record
check out our customer testimonials and Reseller Ratings

Get Started

Browse Our Workstations

Fractal Design Define 7 Chassis with Puget Systems Logo

Select your workflow:

Content Creation
Engineering
Scientific Computing
More

Latest Articles

  • Basic Guide to Identify and Remove Malware
  • Should I Upgrade My Gpu
  • Case Study with Lost Boys Interactive
  • Samsung 990 Pro Critical Firmware Update
  • How To Use Linux Kernel Boot Options
View All

Post navigation

 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB Review RoundupUnreal Engine: Intel Core i9 12900KS Performance 
Puget Systems Logo
Build Your Own PC Site Map FAQ
facebook instagram linkedin rss twitter youtube

Optimized Solutions

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Solidworks
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Machine Learning

Workstations

  • Content Creation
  • Engineering
  • Scientific PCs
  • More

Support

  • Online Guides
  • Request Support
  • Remote Help

Publications

  • All News
  • Puget Blog
  • HPC Blog
  • Hardware Articles
  • Case Studies

Policies

  • Warranty & Return
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Delivery Times
  • Accessibility

About Us

  • Testimonials
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2023 - Puget Systems, All Rights Reserved.