Alder Lake-S Mobile CPU is coming for the first time. It is already clear that Intel’s newest processor, the Alder Lake, is on the rise, as laptops powered by Intel’s new CPU are putting on impressive performance numbers and stealing the crown from AMD and Apple. The Alder Lake-P SKUs are available now, but Intel has been keeping a secret about an even more powerful series that will be released later in the year. It’s not altogether clear whether Alder Lake-S, the high-powered version of Alder Lake mobile, is on its way yet, but we’ve had our first look at it.
Intel Core i7-12650HX Alder Lake-S Mobile CPU
We saw on Videocardz first thing in the morning a new entry on UserBenchmark showing off the Intel Core i7-12650HX, a new Alder Lake-S SKU we had never heard of before. While the Core i7-12650H is already available as part of Alder Lake-P, the “HX” variant of it seems to have a lot more capabilities. In terms of the core configuration, there is a difference between the Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-S versions with the Alder Lake-S being able to handle the processing of 20 threads against 10 threads on the Alder Lake-P model.
Intel Core i7 Alder Lake-S Mobile CPU Specs
There are 14 cores on this processor, of which 6 are Performance Cores and 8 are Efficiency Cores, with hyper-threading only supported on the Performance Cores, so we get 20 threads despite only having 14 cores. In addition to this, UserBenchmark further states that the i7-12650HX has a base clock speed of 2.3Ghz and a maximum boost speed of 4.05Ghz, both supported by a 55W Base Power Limit. As part of this, it’s important to note that this is more than likely just a desktop chip, mounted on a BGA (Ball Grid Array) package with limited frequencies and voltages, as has been speculated by some recent leaks related to Alder Lake-S.
Intel Core i7 Alder Lake-S Mobile CPU Benchmark Eesults
Regarding the actual benchmarking process, there is currently only one record available showing an average bench of 104%, which is a truly impressive number for a chip designed for mobile use. For comparison’s sake, the top-end mobile CPU from 11th Gen, the Core i9-11980HK, has an average bench score of 90.6%, so you can see how the Alder Lake-S chip performs in comparison there. In a normal test, it managed to score 213 points, a heavy test scored 963 points, and a server test scored 1962 points. The Intel Core i9-11900K from several years ago is in the same league and just slightly above the Core i9-11900KF from the same era. Now that is what I would call impressive.
This is a testament to the breakthrough improvements made by Intel with their Alder Lake architecture and big. LITTLE design philosophy in their new Core i7-12650HX. Intel achieves this with only a 10W difference in base TDP, 45W on the normal Core i7-12650H vs 55W on the Alder Lake-S i7-12650HX. For the last two years, Team Blue has been operating in the shadow of AMD and Apple. However, it has now emerged as one of the two largest companies on the planet.
Final Words
As of now, Intel has not announced any information about a possible launch of the HX series. Aside from the Core i7 SKU, it is also possible that there will be a flagship i9 part as well. This could be either the i9-12900HX or the i9-12980HX that would serve as the king of i9 chips. Since Intel already has a range of new high-end mobile SKUs that top the charts, it will be interesting to see where these new chips slot into the current Alder Lake lineup.
