In the much anticipated, Intel Alder Lake
The 12th generation Core processor has finally arrived! Today, the desktop version of the first six K/KF series models, as well as the supporting Z690 chipset motherboard, will be followed by more models and more platforms in the future. Alder
Many of Lake’s architecture and technical details have been announced before, but there are still a lot of dry goods in today’s first release. Let’s come together one by one.
1. Overview of architecture technology
Alder Lake 12th generation Core isThe first desktop processor with Intel 7 process technology, Which is 10nm Enhanced SpuerFin, but alsoThe first x86 desktop processor with a hybrid architecture design, Also used the newly designed Golden Cove CPU micro-architecture, coupled with the first release to support DDR5 memory, PCIe 5.0 standards, the overall strength has achieved a huge leap.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is Intel’s most revolutionary processor product in the last decade.
The 12th generation Core has designed two CPU cores, one is the performance core (P core) and the other is the energy efficiency core (E core).
Many people habitually call it large and small nuclei, butIntel emphasized that this and smartcell phoneThe traditional big.LITTLE large and small core architecture is completely different, because the small core in the large and small cores is for energy saving and power saving, and the E core in the 12th generation Core is to enhance the multi-core performance. Its performance is still quite high. .
The design of the P core is more traditional and is a continuation of the Core family. It is optimized for single-threaded and light-threaded performance and is suitable for higher-load games and productivity applications., Up to 8 in the P1 series of desktop products, up to 6 in the P2 series.
The design of the E core is closer to the Atom family, which optimizes multi-threaded performance and minimizes the impact on foreground task management., Up to 8 in the desktop product P1 series, but not in the P series.
It should be noted that the P core supports hyper-threading, while the E core does not. For example, the i9-12900K has 8 P cores and 8 E cores, and the total number of threads is 20.
The coexistence of the two cores has also changed the cache system.
Each core of the P core has its own independent 1.25MB L2 cache (only 0.5MB for the 11th generation), totaling up to 10MB.
E cores have a group of four cores, sharing 2MB of L2 cache, totaling up to 4MB.
All P cores and E cores share the three-level cache, with a maximum capacity of 30MB, Compared with the 11th generation of 16MB almost doubled.
In order to allocate and schedule the two cores reasonably, Intel specially designedIntel Thread Director (thread scheduler)And withWindows11Deep integration to ensure that different loads are allocated to the most suitable core under different conditions.
The 12th generation Core hardware integrates a microcontroller, which monitors the runtime instructions of each thread with nanosecond precision, and feeds back to the operating system in real time for the most appropriate dispatch and scheduling. At the same time, it is based on heat dissipation design, operating environment, power consumption settings, etc. Make dynamic and adaptive adjustments without user intervention.
For example, if you start to use Adobe Premiere Pro for video transcoding in the foreground, of course, you will use the P core, and then you open Adobe Lightroom to edit photos, the video transcoding will be transferred to the background and handed over to the E core to continue execution, and the P core will take over Photo editing.
Intel claims that this mechanism cooperates with other improvements,Can bring up to 47% performance improvement.
Of course, if a software is to fully release the efficiency of the hybrid architecture and maximize performance, developers need to make targeted adjustments and optimizations, but even without any optimization, the 12-generation Core itself combined with Windows 11 can ensure normal operation.
The 12th generation Core is a flexible and extensible architecture, with three packaging methods designed for different fields.
in,On the desktop is a separately packaged LGA1700, Length and width dimensions of 45×37.5mm, up to 8+8 16 cores, 32-unit core display.
The internal packaging interface has also changed, and the overall height is basically unchanged,The STIM thermal grease and Die chip are thinner, and the IHS thermal top cover is thicker, which can greatly improve the heat dissipation capacity.
The mobile terminal is a BGA Type3 integrated package, Measurement size 52×25×1.3mm, up to 6+8 14 cores, 96-unit nuclear display.
For ultra-low power consumption, it is BGA Type4 HDI integrated package, The size is only 28.5×19×1.1mm, up to 2+8 10 cores, 96-unit core display, TDP as low as 9W.
The memory supports DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, and the expansion connection supports 16 PCIe 5.0, 4 PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6E, Thunderbolt 4. These will not be repeated.
2. Model specifications
The first six models of the 12th generation Core Desktop Edition are K/KF series unlocked versions, suitable for high-end users and overclockers.
The flagship models are i9-12900K, i9-12900KF, 8P+8E 16 core, 24 threads, integrated 14MB L2 cache, 30MB L3 cache.
The P core base frequency is 3.2GHz, the turbo frequency is up to 5.1GHz, and the turbo frequency Max 3.0 accelerates up to 5.2GHz. The E-core reference frequency is 2.4GHz, and the core frequency is up to 3.9GHz.
i7-12700K, i7-12700KF 8P+4E 12 cores and 20 threads, integrated 12MB L2 cache, 25MB L3 cache.
The P core reference frequency is increased to 3.6GHz, and the maximum acceleration of Turbo Boost and Turbo Boost Max 3.0 will be 4.9 GHz and 4.9 GHz, respectively.5.0GHz. The E core reference frequency is increased to 2.7GHz, and the core frequency is reduced to the highest3.8GHz.
i5-12600K and i5-12600KF are more mainstream, 6P+4E 10 core 16 threads, integrated 9.5MB L2 cache, 20MB L3 cache.
The P core reference frequency further came to 3.7GHz, with the highest turbo frequency acceleration4.9GHz, Does not support Turbo Boost Max 3.0. The E-core reference frequency reaches 2.8GHz, and the core frequency is the highest3.7GHz.
Unified integration of three K modelsUHD 770 core graphics card, 32 units. The three KF models naturally have no core.
The memory support is the same. The six models are dual-channel DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200, with a maximum capacity of 128GB.
The thermal design power consumption is unified to 125W, but Intel has definedThe new Maximum Turbo Power (Maximum Turbo Power) is similar to the previous PL2 state, but can be maintained for a long time, specifically i9-12900K/KF 241W, i7-12700K/KF 190W, i5-12600K/KF 150W, respectively. TDP is 93%, 52%, and 20% higher.
At the same time, TDP is still equal to PL1, andIn a stable overclocking environment, PL1=PL2 can be achievedFor example, i9-12900K can always run stably under the power consumption of 241W, which is the maximum acceleration power consumption.
3. Performance
After talking for a long time, everyone must be impatient. What is the performance score?
The measured data will not be shared with you until 21 o’clock on November 4th. Let’s take a look at Intel’s official data.
The P core uses the new Golden Cove architecture. It is officially claimed that at the same 3.3GHz frequency, compared to the 11th generation Core’s Cypress Cove architecture, IPC (instructions per clock cycle) has increased by an average of 19%., Can be roughly understood as the improvement of the same frequency performance.
In terms of single-core performance, compared with the 10th generation Core at the same frequency, the P core and E core are 28% higher and 1% higher respectively. Compared with the 11th generation Core, the P core can be 14% higher, and the E core is 10% behind.
In other words, the E core is really not a small core, and its performance has even surpassed the 10-generation Core.
In terms of multi-core performance, the i9-12900K with a peak power consumption of 241W, compared to the i9-11900K with a peak power consumption of 250W, has a full 50% higher performance under the premise of slightly saving power. This is the maximum power of the hybrid architecture.
Even if the power consumption of the i9-12900K is reduced to 125W, which is the average peak value of the i9-11900K, the multi-core performance is still 30% higher, and after it is reduced to 65W, it can still be flat, which is obtained at a quarter of the power consumption. The same multi-core performance.
In terms of game performance,The comprehensive amplitude reached 13% at 1080p resolution, Online games like “League of Legends” even exceed 40%.
How about comparing competing products? i9-12900K facing Ryzen 9 5950X, Intel admits that some games are indeed slightly behind, and some are flat, butMost of them are clearly ahead, with the highest margin exceeding 30%.
Of course, the two memories are not the same, Intel’s side is DDR5-4800,AMDThis is DDR4-3200.
According to Intel,Compared with DDR4-3200, DDR5-4800 is leading in gaming performance most of the time, but the margin is not too large, generally not exceeding 5%.
In terms of content creation, compared to i9-11900K, the performance of the i9-12900K has been improved considerably. With the support of the high efficiency of the hybrid architecture, the acceleration rate can easily reach more than 30%, or even double it!
Finally, there are some advantageous items compared with i9-12900K and i9-11900K, such asPhoto editing performance increased by 36%, video editing performance increased by 32%, 3D modeling performance increased by 37%, and multi-frame rendering speed increased by 100%!
4. Price and listing
The official starting prices arei9-12900K is 589 dollars, i9-12900KF is 564 dollars, i7-12700K is 409 dollars, i7-12700KF is 384 dollars, i5-12600K is 289 dollars, i5-12600KF is 264 dollars.
Compared with the existing models, they are respectively 50 US dollars, 51 US dollars, 20 US dollars, 10 US dollars, 27 US dollars, 27 US dollars.
Now accepting reservations,It will be launched globally at 21 o’clock on November 4, and it is expected that hundreds of thousands of units will be delivered by the end of this year, and more than 2 million will be delivered by the end of March next year.
Intel also revealed that it will deliver the 12th-generation Core Duo to OEMs early next year.28 new models, covering desktop, mobile, and commercial versions.
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