12th Gen Core i7-12700 vs Core i5-8600K
Short answer: which is best?
12th Gen Core i7-12700 is 92.2 % stronger than Core i5-8600K. 12th Gen Core i7-12700 ranks #22 of 89 measured processors at WhatFPS (10,496 CPU score over 1 verified runs). Core i5-8600K ranks #70 of 89 measured processors at WhatFPS (5,461 CPU score over 1 verified runs). The numbers are measured in 2 verified WhatFPS runs — not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | 12th Gen Core i7-12700 | Core i5-8600K |
|---|---|---|
| CPU score (the processor's own performance) | 10,496 | 5,461 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 7,676 | 2,908 |
| Integer (MT) | 8.2 Gop/s | 3.2 Gop/s |
| Single-thread (1T) | 0.73 Gop/s | 0.47 Gop/s |
| Draw calls/s (DX11) | 11,219,733 | 7,825,171 |
| Cores / threads | 12 / 20 | 6 / 6 |
| L3 cache | 25 MB | 9 MB |
What the numbers mean
The CPU score is the processor's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the processor in, and leans heavily on the graphics card. A strong processor in a weak PC gets a low GAMING score without being worse. We show both and never mix them.
All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik
All measurements for 12th Gen Core i7-12700 · All measurements for Core i5-8600K