What counts in the end: Who offers the best package? And a super-fast processor alone is not enough. The test winner was Intel's Core i7-14700K. The 20-core processor was extremely fast, its graphics chip offered a decent speed and it left nothing to be desired in terms of energy consumption...

If you need a fast PC whose CPU temperature can be kept in check even without water cooling, the Core i7-12700K is a good choice. In multithreading tasks it is on a par with the more expensive but more economical Ryzen 9 5900X, and in office and gaming it is close on the heels of the 12900K.

The Intel Core i7-12700K fits in perfectly with its competitors. If you want a bit more performance, you can get it for more money, apart from gaming.

In the price range up to 500 euros, there is currently no better CPU than Intel's Core i7-12700K. Compared to its predecessor, it offers significantly more performance and consumes less energy. So number twelve also has all the prerequisites to become a future bestseller.

Of the current Alder Lake line-up, the Core i7-12700K convinced us the most. The price matches the performance, the number of cores fits the current gaming line-up and the efficiency is better than the flagship. AMD's Ryzen 9 5900X is too expensive in comparison to the Core i7-12700K...