Intel 12th Gen Core Alder Lake for Desktops: Top SKUs Only, Coming November 4th
by Dr. Ian Cutress on October 27, 2021 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- DDR4
- DDR5
- PCIe 5.0
- Alder Lake
- Intel 7
- 12th Gen Core
- Z690
Performance
I’m not a big one on posting first-party benchmark results, but the high-level overview from Intel was this:
- At 3.3 GHz, 12900K is +19% better in Single Thread Performance over the 11900K
- Over the 11900K, the 12900K is +19% better at 1080p High with RTX 3090
- Over the 11900K, the 12900K gets +84% better fps when concurrently streaming
- Over the 11900K, the 12900K is +22-100% better in content creation (Adobe)
- Over the 11900K, the 12900K is +50% faster in BlenderMT at 241W (vs 250W)
- Over the 11900K, the 12900K performs the same in BlenderMT at only 65W (vs 250W)
All of Intel’s tests were using Windows 11, with DDR5-4400 vs DDR4-3200. Intel did have a small one slide of comparisons against AMD in gaming with an RTX 3090, however they stated they were done without the latest L3 patch fix, and admitted that they would have preferred to show us full results. By the time this article goes live, we may have seen those results at Intel’s event.
This is a reasonable set of data, very focused on the Core i9, but when the reviews come out we’ll be able to see where it sits compared to the other parts, as well as the competition. The only thing that concerns me right now leading up to the launch is the behavior of demoting workloads to E-cores when not in focus when on the Balanced Power Plan (mentioned on the Thread Director page). It won’t be until I get hands-on with the hardware as to whether I see it as an issue or not.
Another factor to mention is DRM. Intel has made statements to this, but there is an issue with Denuvo as it uses part of the CPU configuration to identify systems to stop piracy. Due to the hybrid nature, Denuvo might register starting on a different core (P vs E) as a new system, and eventually lock you out of the game either temporarily or permanently. Out of the top 200 games, around 20 are affected and Intel says it still has a couple more to fix. It’s working with Denuvo for a high-level fix from their side, and with developers to fix from their end as well. Intel says it’s a bit harder with older titles, especially when there’s no development going on, or the IP is far away from its original source. A solution to this would be to only launch those games on specific cores, but look out for more updates as time marches on.
Conclusions
Well, it’s almost here. It looks like Intel will take the ST crown, although MT is a bit of a different story, and might rely explicitly on the software being used or if the difference in performance is worth the price. The use of the hybrid architecture might be an early pain point, and it will be interesting to see if Thread Director remains resilient to the issues. The bump up to Windows 11 is also another potential rock in the stream, and we’re seeing some teething issues from users, although right now users who are looking to early adopt a new CPU are likely more than ready to adopt a new version of Windows at the same time.
The discourse on DDR4 vs DDR5 is one I’ve had for almost a year now. Memory vendors seem ready to start seeding kits to retailers, however the expense over DDR4 is somewhat eyewatering. The general expectation is that DDR5 won’t offer much performance uplift over a good kit of DDR4, or might even be worse. The benefit of DDR5 then at this point is more to start on that DDR5 ladder, where the only way to go is up. This will be Intel’s last DDR4 platform on desktop it seems.
On the processors themselves, the Core i5 and Core i7 parts look very competitive and in line with respective popular AMD processors. Both the Core i5 and Core i7 have extra E-cores, so we’ll see if that comes in handy for extra performance, or they’ll just end up burning power and performance per watt needs re-examining. The Core i9 challenge is probably sided on Intel for single thread, but all the questions will be over proper multi-threaded performance.
| Intel 12th Gen Core, Alder Lake | |||||||||
| AnandTech | Cores P+E/T |
E-Core Base |
E-Core Turbo |
P-Core Base |
P-Core Turbo |
IGP | Base W |
Turbo W |
Price $1ku |
| i9-12900K | 8+8/24 | 2400 | 3900 | 3200 | 5200 | 770 | 125 | 241 | $589 |
| i9-12900KF | 8+8/24 | 2400 | 3900 | 3200 | 5200 | - | 125 | 241 | $564 |
| i7-12700K | 8+4/20 | 2700 | 3800 | 3600 | 5000 | 770 | 125 | 190 | $409 |
| i7-12700KF | 8+4/20 | 2700 | 3800 | 3600 | 5000 | - | 125 | 190 | $384 |
| i5-12600K | 6+4/20 | 2800 | 3600 | 3700 | 4900 | 770 | 125 | 150 | $289 |
| i5-12600KF | 6+4/20 | 2800 | 3600 | 3700 | 4900 | - | 125 | 150 | $264 |
After not much CPU news for a while, it’s time to get in gear and find out what Intel has been cooking. Come back on November 4th for our review.
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DigitalFreak - Wednesday, October 27, 2021 - link
Fanboi says what?Kangal - Friday, October 29, 2021 - link
What?But to get a little serious, I don't think Intel is going to win with their big.LITTLE architecture. I feel like ARM has a huge lead on the 15W (or less) demographic. So it would make sense for x86 designers to double-down on their performance lead in the higher thermal envelope. That's what AMD is (seemingly) going for with its focus on lower-latency Infinity Fabric, +5nm node to clock higher, and their 3D-Stacking of Cache. Not to mention all the help from DDR5, Pcie 5, nVme, Wifi 6 etc etc.
Intel's approach will win them back the Laptop segment, but they won't be winning the tablet segment back from ARM. And even the Gaming Laptop segment won't be an outright victory against AMD's offerings, not to mention the New MacBook Pros. If anything, Intel should have capitalised on their Atom efficiency cores, and do little.BIG computing in like 2018.
Servers is a position where Intel may see improvements. But it's still in favour of AMD for now and the near future. The bigger threat comes from next-gen ARM-servers. I doubt anything from the left-field will come, RISC-V is still a paperlaunch/niche for the next few years.
So while I think Intel is (FINALLY) becoming competitive against AMD, I don't think they have enough to go on. Their node is still inferior. Their Xe-Graphics are still inferior to RDNA-2. And they still lag behind AMD's Cores when you factor in Infinity-Fabric and 3D-Cache. Not to mention that the system/kernel is not quiet optimised yet (let alone individual programs) when thinking about Windows11.
For now, we have to choose from:
Android, iOS, macOS, Windows
RISC-V, ARM, Apple-ARM, Intel, AMD.
ARM-Mali, PowerVR, Apple-Graphics, Nvidia, AMD RDNA.
Silver5urfer - Thursday, October 28, 2021 - link
What is this fanboy junk...sigh.ADL demands Windows 11 POS, you want to shill for the HW which demands installing a strictly mobile junk copied OS with zero respect to computing factor on top where they are saying VBS is mandatory on all OEM machines and purposefully nuked AMD L3 performance ?
I have a positive opinion on this ADL but it has insane changes, like Intel ITD drama who wants to endure that band aid solution of Intel with 2 layer system in between the OS and CPU. On top the major issue being socket longevity. How long this socket will retain it's value and will Intel release another Z790 next year ? No idea.
Now for your AMD bashing, Zen 3 wiped the floor with 2 generations of processors yeah they have bugs while OCing and DRAM tuning, but if you run at stock no issues and performs very well competitively. And for the ADL performance, it's honestly a joke. Because ADL has small trash cores since Intel wants to sell more BGA junk and they cannot beat the performance with more cores due to 10nm heat.
Raptor Joke lol so ADL CPU is going to be EOLed under a year lmao, just like 11900K ? 2 CPUs in succession. While 10900K still stands strong. That's Intel for you. Meanwhile AMD's Zen 3 is now ready for 2022 action as well with AM4 and 3D V Cache. Keep using the yearly socket refresh and chipset refresh and CPU refresh while coming here and spout nonsensical load.
Finally pay up DDR5 tax and premium premature trash DDR5 quality, by 2023-2024 DDR5 will be matured and all ADL buyers will weep hard.
Now for the closure. Zen 4 is going to steamroll over Raptor Joke, 100% garunteed. Do you think these companies operate without knowing what their competitor is doing ? they operate 2 years ahead of cycle internally. Plus AM4 experience is very important for AMD to fix the bugs from Platform to CPU. Ultimately they cleared out saying we are not using joker big little design. A full far Zen 4, massive price increase is also coming from them, the IPC boost and the ST SMT performance will send fanboys to darkages.
Silver5urfer - Thursday, October 28, 2021 - link
I forgot to post important thing, be happy that you have AMD as competition else Intel would have been selling you 4C CPUs even in 2021 and AMD is pushing x86 to next level, if that design dies or stagnates PC will die. Keep the x86 alive if you want to own a computer not a consumable garbage ARM product.MaxIT - Thursday, October 28, 2021 - link
That works both ways: AMD dominion is not welcomed in the same way. Did you see what AMD did with prices ? AMD and Intel are the same: when they think they are above competitors, they start taxing customers. Let them fight to prevail: we customers will be the winnersQasar - Thursday, October 28, 2021 - link
" Did you see what AMD did with prices ? " you referring to the $50 price increase between zen 2 and 3 ? 50 bucks is nothing, compared to how much intel kept raising their prices over the years before zen 1 was released. but yet, very few complained about that.Oxford Guy - Friday, October 29, 2021 - link
That $50 is a response to the inflation that has been happening from all of the Covid money printing.mode_13h - Friday, October 29, 2021 - link
It's not only money-printing. There are legit shortages due to outbreaks in factories, and worker-shortages in certain sectors.I suspect one reason for the trucker shortage, in the US, is that truck drivers tend to be older and overweight, which are both risk factors for complications from Covid-19 (which the nature of their job also increased their exposure towards). So, I truly wonder how much the US truck driver shortage is due to drivers unable to continue performing their duties due to complications (or death).
Spunjji - Friday, October 29, 2021 - link
@mode_13h - It's a good point. A lot of chatter about the effects of COVID seems to ignore how many people more than usual died. It's not world-war levels of death, but systems subject to stress have to eat into margins to cope, and a lot of the world's financial and supply-chain systems were already under stress from tariffs and sustained economic strife when COVID hit - so there weren't a lot of margins left.mode_13h - Saturday, October 30, 2021 - link
@Spunjji a lot more people have long-term effects from Covid-19 than the ones who died. Death is just the worst outcome, but there are many people unable to function at the same level as before. And I'm not only talking about "long Covid", where the immune system seems to be stuck in an overstimulated state, but other sorts of cardiovascular and organ damage it can cause.