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Amongst a varied list of other announcements today, Intel formally introduced the 12th Gen Intel Core processors with the top end Intel Core i9-12900K that they claim is the "world's best gaming processor". Ready for what could be your next CPU? Code-named "Alder Lake", you won't have long to wait with November 4 being the date set for general availability and pre-orders in some places are live now.

"The performance hybrid architecture of 12th Gen Intel Core processors is an architectural shift made possible by close co-engineering of software and hardware that will deliver new levels of leadership performance for generations," said Gregory Bryant, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group. "This begins with the arrival of our flagship Core i9-12900K – the world’s best gaming processor – and you will see even more incredible experiences as we ship the rest of the 12th Gen family and beyond."

The new processors also come along side the new Intel 600 Series Chipset. Key Features include:

  • The first processors in the industry to offer DDR5 memory for up to 4800MT/s.
  •  The first processors in the industry to offer PCIe 5.0 (up to 16 lanes), which offers up to 2X I/O throughput over PCIe 4.0, with up to an additional four lanes of PCIe 4.0 support.
  • Up to 30MB Intel® Smart Cache (L3) and 14MB L2 cache for increased memory capacity with reduced latency.
  • Integrated high-speed wireless with Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E, which combines industry-leading Wi-Fi 6E connectivity with powerful gaming network technology to minimize lag, latency, and packet loss.
  • Discrete Thunderbolt 4 universal cable connectivity for external device expansion.

Check out their video on it below:

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This is their first set based on their hybrid architecture, which features a mixture of their Performance-cores (P-cores) and Efficient-cores (E-cores). Intel say there will be about 60 different models, with the first set being announced as the unlocked "K" processor line. Pricing starts at $264 up to $589 for the unlocked desktop processors.

You can see some specifications below in our scrolling table:

Processor Number Processor Cores (P+E) Processor Threads Intel® Smart Cache (L3) Total L2 Cache Processor Turbo Frequency Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency (GHz)  Processor Turbo Frequency P-core Max Turbo Frequency (GHz) Processor Turbo Frequency E-core Max Turbo Frequency (GHz) Processor Base Frequency P-core Base Frequency (GHz) Processor Base Frequency E-core Base Frequency (GHz) Unlocked Processor Graphics Total CPU PCIe Lanes Max Memory Speed Memory Channels Maximum Memory Capacity Processor Base Power (W) Maximum Turbo Power (W)
i9-12900K
$589

16

(8P + 8E)

24 30MB 14MB

Up to

5.2

Up to

5.1

Up to

3.9

3.2 2.4 Yes

Intel® UHD

Graphics 770

20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 241
i9-12900KF
$564

16

(8P + 8E)

24 30MB 14MB

Up to

5.2

Up to

5.1

Up to

3.9

3.2 2.4 Yes n/a 20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 241
i7-12700K
$409

12

(8P + 4E)

20 25MB 12MB

Up to

5.0

Up to

4.9

Up to

3.8

3.6 2.7 Yes

Intel® UHD

Graphics 770

20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 190
i7-12700KF
$384

12

(8P + 4E)

20 25MB 12MB

Up to

5.0

Up to

4.9

Up to

3.8

3.6 2.7 Yes n/a 20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 190
i5-12600K
$289

10

(6P + 4E)

16 20MB 9.5MB n/a

Up to

4.9

Up to

3.6

3.7 2.8 Yes

Intel® UHD

Graphics 770

20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 150
i5-12600KF
$264

10

(6P + 4E)

16 20MB 9.5MB n/a

Up to

4.9

Up to

3.6

3.7 2.8 Yes n/a 20

DDR5 4800 MT/s

DDR4 3200 MT/s

2 128GB 125 150

See the full announcement with links to more info.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Hardware, Intel, Misc
6 Likes
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26 comments
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Lanz Oct 28, 2021
Here's to hoping x86 will make some efficiency gains against the Apple M1.
ShabbyX Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: ShmerlBasically, don't rush to buy it, until someone (Intel I assume?) will add such scheduler for Linux (if you are even considering it). In general Intel are good at doing it though so it should appear at some point.

Linux has been doing this for years for big.LITTLE, asymmetric multiprocessing is nothing new for Linux.
Shmerl Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: ShabbyXLinux has been doing this for years for big.LITTLE, asymmetric multiprocessing is nothing new for Linux.

Then they can plug into it, but they can have their own specifics. It also can be related to different polices of power saving.


Last edited by Shmerl on 28 October 2021 at 4:24 am UTC
Koopacabras Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: denyasisGiven that; I have absolutely no idea what anything he said actually means:

let me fix that.

Quotenew levels of leadership performance for generations

Quotenew levels of leadership IN generational performance.
well that's the issue with English, it's an Analytic language

In English swapping words to different positions completely changes the meaning of something, in Spanish is more dependant on the prepositions, nouns etc, the order it's not that important.
I still get confused with this type of things and I started learning english in kindergarden.


Last edited by Koopacabras on 28 October 2021 at 7:15 am UTC
robredz Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: ShmerlWhat's the pricing for this one? Would be interesting to see benchmarks, but I'm sticking to AMD. They so far decided not to use this cores disparity approach and rather focus on improving all cores as a whole.

Making such mixed cores also will put more burden on OS schedulers to use them in some balanced ways.

Isn't this one going to be a power hog to rival an AMD FX?
https://www.techpowerup.com/288337/final-intel-12th-gen-core-cpu-spec-and-pricing-leak-hours-before-official-reveal
fabertawe Oct 28, 2021
I'm afraid my cynicism is here to stay.... "The performance hybrid architecture of 12th Gen Intel Core processors is an architectural shift made possible by close co-engineering of software and hardware that will deliver new levels of leadership performance for generations" ....what black magic is hidden by that gobbledygook I wonder.

I'm going back to AMD (for my CPU at least) next upgrade.
denyasis Oct 28, 2021
Thanks all. I think I sorta follow, but the executive / marketing speak is so.... Bad?

If I hear one of our "high performing leaders" in my work talk about "pivoting" one more time....
MayeulC Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: ShmerlWhat's the pricing for this one? Would be interesting to see benchmarks, but I'm sticking to AMD. They so far decided not to use this cores disparity approach and rather focus on improving all cores as a whole.

Making such mixed cores also will put more burden on OS schedulers to use them in some balanced ways.

Oh, I'd love for AMD to come out with big.little cores too :)
Shmerl Oct 28, 2021
Quoting: MayeulCOh, I'd love for AMD to come out with big.little cores too :)

From what I've read, they aren't planning to follow Intel on this for now and rather would focus on optimizing all cores.
prosoor Oct 28, 2021
Integrated wireless in processors?


Last edited by prosoor on 28 October 2021 at 9:33 pm UTC
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