Upcoming Intel’s Alder Lake Core i9-12900K CPU is showing some good numbers compared to AMD. Moreover, rumour specifications show that the chips still consume more power. Intel taunted Alder Lake as a breakthrough in CPU architecture, especially in Desktops.
As we all know, 12th gen Alder Lake CPU is featuring a hybrid architecture that contains performance and efficiency cores. It’s the first time Intel is moving the desktop segment chip into a hybrid solution. Although, Apple did industries first with the M1 chip in their Macs.
Ahead of Ryzen 5950X
Recent leaks suggested that the Core i9-12900K QS (Qualification Sample) has beaten AMD Ryzen 5950X in the Cinebench R20 test.
Core i9-12900K QS scored 810 points in a single thread and 11600 points in a multi-thread test while using water cooling.
Comparing with Ryzen 5950X Cinebench R20 score, it has Scored 640 points in a single thread and 10400 points in a multi-thread test. So it’s a 25% in single-thread and 11% in the multi-thread performance difference.
However, the 12900K listed is a QS (Qualification Sample) chip, not a final product. We will probably see some differences later. Also, till now, the Alder Lake CPUs are competing against AMD’s Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 CPUs, While AMD will jump to Zen 3+ Ryzen in Q4,2021 or early next year.
Additionally, Alder Lake has to be capable enough to counter AMD’s upcoming Zen 3+ CPUs. One crucial change we would see in Zen 3+ is the 3D V-cache, which will improve around 15% gaming performance. The 3D caching not only double the cache in size but also increase the performance.
OneRaichu mentioned that the 12900 “KS” is a typo mistake, and it’s a 12900K. The leaker also added that power consumption is the biggest concern as the chip goes over 200W in max turbo frequency.
Alder Lake Specs
The previous leaks of the Alder Lake core configurations are looking true. More details are out about clock speed, cache, and power consumption. The Alder Lake will feature Golden Cove performance core and Gracemont efficient cores, build on a newer 10nm enhanced super fin.
Core i9-12900K – 8 performance + 8 efficient cores (8P+8E). The performance 1-2 cores max boost at 5.3 GHz and all 8 cores boost at 5 GHz. The efficient 1-4 cores max boost at 3.9 GHz and all 8 cores boost at 3.7 GHz. 30 MB of L3 cache and power consumption is PL1 is 125W / PL2 is 228W.
Core i7-12700K – 8 performance + 4 efficient cores (8P+4E). The performance 1-2 cores max boost at 5 GHz and all 8 cores boost at 4.7 GHz. The efficient 1-2 cores max boost at 3.8 GHz and all 4 cores boost at 3.6 GHz. 25 MB of L3 cache and power consumption is PL1 is 125W / PL2 is 228W.
Core i5-12600K – 6 performance + 4 efficient cores (6P+4E). The performance 1-2 cores max boost at 4.9 GHz and all 6 cores boost at 4.5 GHz. The efficient 1-2 cores max boost at 3.6 GHz and all 4 cores boost at 3.4 GHz. 20 MB of L3 cache and power consumption is PL1 is 125W / PL2 is 228W.
A new LGA 1700 socket 600 series motherboard is required to run Alder Lake CPUs. Older motherboards are not compatible to run 12th gen Alder Lake.
Despite the newer 10nm process, the power consumption is still very high. During the max boost frequency, the power draw may go beyond 200W as the advertised PL2 (Power Limit 2) is 228W. If the power consumption is more than AMD’s counterparts, What’s the use of 10nm.
Similarly, not enough cache Intel is providing with flagship chips. With Core i9-12900K, the cache is 30 MB which is half of the Ryzen 5950X cache. Whereas, we have seen with AMD 3D caching that the more cache is improving performance numbers.
All high-performance Golden Cove cores are hyperthreaded, whereas the efficient Gracemont cores lack hyperthreading.
| Core i9-12900K | Core i7-12700K | Core i5-12500K | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Cove | 8C/16T | 8C/16T | 6C/12T |
| Gracemont | 8C/8T | 4C/4T | 4C/4T |
Undoubtedly, Intel Alder Lake is a new hybrid platform for desktops. So far, the marketing team of Intel has disappointed us, even though they somehow manage to stand in the market with 14 nm. Therefore, Intel’s new marketing strategy remains to be seen.
Another big question is how the Operating system will utilise the hybrid core design. Which type of workload lands on which particular core type. And how OS schedular is performing to manage workload between performance and efficiency cores.
Unofficially Available
The engineering sample of the Core i9- 12900K is available for sale unofficially in China. As per a report, all the Intel Core i9-12900k QS CPUs sold out at around $1000. And more stock to come in a week. The dealer also sold a B660 motherboard for $1,140, although there was no mention of the model or vendor.
Although, getting an unreleased engineering sample product that too in a high premium would be a stupid move. Previously, we saw the same thing with Rocket Lake that a retailer started selling before Intel’s official launch date. It seems that Intel is unable to control its products sale partners. Since the product is available in the market before the official launch, it is no small thing.
Note: – All the details are rumours, Leaks and speculations
