12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPUs Based On Intel 7 Architecture Launched: Intel Core i9-12900K Goes Official

12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU New Features

Intel has included several new technologies with the 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs. These are the first set of CPUs to be fabricated based on Intel 7 architecture, which makes them more efficient than the previous Intel processors based on either 10nm SuperFin or 14nm architecture.

Just like the previous generation Intel Core series of CPUs, these CPUs are overclockable, and the Intel Core i9-12900K is marketed to be the world's best gaming processor which also offers options for overclocking.

These new CPUs also come with a new socket (LGA 1700), which means, you should also get a new motherboard if you plan on getting a new 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU. The company has also confirmed that it will launch the mobile and ultra-mobile version of the Alder Lake CPUs for laptops and ultrabooks in 2022.

Alder Lake: Performance Core Efficient Core

One of the biggest changes on the Alder Lake CPU is that it uses two sets of CPUs -- performance cores and efficient cores. The Intel Core i9-12900K has eight performance cores and eight efficient cores, offering a total of 16 cores and 24 threads.

Each P core has an L2 cache of 1.25MB, while the entire E core setup has an L2 cache of 2MB. The CPU comes with a unified 30MB L3 cache, which is said to reduce the latency and improve the game loading time.

These CPUs also come with a new technology called Intel Thread Director, which monitors the runtime instruction mix with a nano-second precision and dynamically adapts the resources without any user input. This technology is specially designed to work well on PCs running on Windows 11 OS.

Supports DDR5 And PCIe Gen 5

The 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake is also the first set of CPUs to support PCIe Gen 5 ( up to 16 lanes) and DDR5 memory with up to 4800MT/s. Besides, these CPUs also come with integrated WiFi 6E support along with enhanced Intel UHD graphics based on Xe architecture.

Intel 6000 Series Chipset

If you are planning to get an Alder Lake CPU, then you also need a motherboard with an Intel 600 series chipset. Intel 6000 series chipset offers chipset PCIe 4.0 lanes with integrated Intel WiFi 6E and support for additional USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20Gbps.

Intel Core i9-12900K Vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

According to the numbers shared by Intel, the Core i9-12900K outperforms Ryzen 9 5950X on games like Age of Empire 4, Far Cry 6, and Hitman 3. However, AMD does maintain a lead on titles like The Shadow Of The Tomb Raider.

Performance And Power

The Intel Core i9-12900K outperforms the Intel Core i9-11900K and offers 50 percent more performance while just consuming 241W of power. Similarly, the Intel Core i9-12900K can match the performance of the Intel Core i9-11900K by just using 65W of power when compared to 250W of power on the Intel Core i9-11900K.

To improve the thermal performance of the Alder Lake CPUs, Intel has decreased the thickness of the die and the STIM ( Solder Thermal Interface Material). These CPUs also support XMP 3.0 profiles on systems with DDR4 for easy memory overclocking. The Alder Lake "K" SKUs can be easily overclocked when combined with motherboards with the Z690 chipset.