Intel 12th Gen Processors

Intel announces intel 12th gen desktop processors: Intel has introduced a new set of desktop processors. These chips were designed to fight against Intel’s competition and take the crown! Intel has increased the power and efficiency up to 23% from their previous generation processors. Here is everything you need to know about this new-gen.

Table of Contents

Intel has launched six new models of 12th gen processors. These processors are based on intel’s Alder Lake architecture using a 10nm fabrication process. Below are the six models of 12th gen processors launched by intel:

Model	Cores (performance / efficiency)	Threads	Base clock speed, P-core / E-core (GHz)	Boosted clock speed, P-core / E-core (GHz)	Turbo Boost Max 3.0 clock speed (GHz)	Smart Cache (L3)	Processor base power (W)	Maximum turbo power (W)	Graphics	Recommended Price
i9-12900K	16 (8P / 8E)	24	3.2 / 2.4	Up to 5.1 / Up to 3.9	Up to 5.2	30MB	125	241	Intel UHD Graphics 770	$589
i9-12900KF	16 (8P / 8E)	24	3.2 / 2.4	Up to 5.1 / Up to 3.9	Up to 5.2	30MB	125	241	N/A	$564
i7-12700K	12 (8P / 4E)	20	3.6 / 2.7	Up to 4.9 / Up to 3.8	Up to 5.0	25MB	125	190	Intel UHD Graphics 750	$409
i7-12700KF	12 (8P / 4E)	20	3.6 / 2.7	Up to 4.9 / Up to 3.8	Up to 5.0	25MB	125	190	N/A	$384
i5-12600K	10 (6P / 4E)	16	3.7 / 3.8	Up to 4.9 / Up to 3.6	NA	20MB	125	150	Intel UHD Graphics 750	$289
i5-12600KF	10 (6P / 4E)	16	3.7 / 3.8	Up to 4.9 / Up to 3.6	NA	20MB	125	150	N/A	$264

Alder Lake Design

The new Intel 12th gen processors are based on Alder Lake design. This time Intel has switched to a hybrid core design. The Alder Lake design uses a combination of Performance-cores (P-cores) and Efficient-cores (E-cores) as mentioned in the above table. Intel did not use multiple cores of essentially identical performance this time. The same structure will be applied to next line up Apple’s M chips and other smartphone chips.

The Performance Cores are responsible for handling heavy work like playing video games or rendering for example. But if you have some light work running in the background whilst working with other programs that need to stay open, then just imagine how much extra power will be used. That’s where the Energy-Efficient Cores come in handy because they’re designed to handle things that aren’t taking up too much processing power so that your phone doesn’t have to keep using more and more batteries on top of everything else it has to do!

Cores and Threads

On the 16-core i9-12900K processor, you have 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores with a total of 24 threads. Similarly, the 10-core i5-12600K processor has 6 P-cores and 4 E-cores with a total of 16 threads.

Graphics and Cache

There will be a bump in cache size as well, the i9 model has 30MB L3 cache, i7 has 25MB cache and i5 has 20MB cache. The 12th-gen processor has built-in GPU Intel UHD Graphics 770 for i9 and Intel UHD Graphics 750 for i5 & i7.

Motherboard Sockets

With the introduction of new chipsets, intel has also planned to launch a new motherboard, the Z690 that supports 12th gen processors. This board will use a new LGA1700 socket. These new processors are not compatible with any other old motherboards. We can expect 60 new motherboard models from various vendors at the launch.

The new 12th-gen processors are the first chips in the market to support DDR5 memory with the support of DDR5 4800 MT/s and also unlocked higher speeds through the new XMP 3.0 profiles. These chips are also the first to support PCIe 5.0, we will get a total of 20 PCIe lanes from the CPU, from which 16 are PCIe 5.0 lanes and the other 4 are PCIe 4.0 lanes. Intel claims that these chips are the world’s best gaming processors compared to Ryzen 9 5950X in 31 titles, with an average 28% increase in frame rates.