From here: Gearspace.com - View Single Post - DAWBench DSP / VI Universal - Cross Platform DAW Benchmarks :
The first thing to note about that set of test results is that whomever made the chart decided to include 12900K results using DDR5, not DDR4. If you look at the first chart for VI Polyphony you see the processor reach 1820 voices at 64 a sample buffer. If you look at the next chart comparing DDR4 to DDR5 you see that at the same 64 samples the number appears in green which is marked as DDR5.
So, we can learn some really interesting things from this set of tests.
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At the lowest tested buffer size the 5950X is better than the 12900K with DDR5. Not by much, but better.
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As the buffer size increases the 12900K with DDR5 gets clearly better.
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The improvement going from DDR4 to DDR5 as seen in the second chart I posted is pretty remarkable. 50%-70% improvements! (using the VI polyphony test, the DSP test showed little difference)
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Using the numbers we find in the DDR4 vs DDR5 chart and looking at the first chart again it’s clear that the 12900K is way behind the 5950X. 1180 vs 1860 at 64 samples, 1920 vs 2920, and then stays behind all the way up to 256 samples (less difference there).
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It’s only at the largest 512 buffer that the 12900K with DDR4 beats the 5900X 12-core by AMD!
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In the DSP test the 5950X wins at all buffer sizes.
So if we wanted to boil it down based on these charts there seems to be three basic conclusions:
A: If you are going to run mainly DSP and not virtual instruments the best CPU is the 5950X.
B: If you are considering the 12900K with DDR4 and are using a lot of VIs at low buffer sizes the 5950X is still better, and so is the 5900X.
C: If you are using a lot of VIs at low buffer sizes the 12900K with DDR5 is better.
If I got any of that wrong please correct me.