12th Gen Intel Core processors ushered in the era of x86 hybrid computing, DDR5 memory, and PCIe 5.0 lanes

Today at the Intel Innovation Event, Intel unveiled the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processor family. Today, the tech giant launched six new unlocked desktop processors, including the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K, which offers max boost up to 5.2GHz, 16 cores and 24 threads. That’s why the tech giant is calling it “the world’s best gaming processor”and the new desktop processors are taking the giant leap in performance that gamers and professional creators have always been asking for. The 12th Gen Intel Core family consists of a total of 60 processors, and the company has claimed up to 19% average performance improvement, better gaming and multi-threaded performance.

12th generation Intel Core processors unveiled today

The six unlocked desktop processors announced today are the first processors based on Intel’s performance hybrid architecture with a combination of Performance cores (P-cores) and Efficiency cores (E-cores). This approach is not new, but this approach to x86 chips is similar to what was done with the Apple M1 chips with great success. Instead of cramming many power-hungry cores into a single chip, this new approach of combining performance cores with efficiency cores is likely to yield good results.

Overview of the 12th generation Intel processor

The Core i9-12900K supports eight hyper-threaded high-performance cores, delivering sixteen threads, and eight efficient non-hyperthreading cores, offering twenty-four threads in sixteen cores. The Core i7-12700K has the same eight performance cores but only four efficient cores, while the Core i5-12600K has six performance cores and four efficient cores. While performance cores handle intensive and heavy workloads, efficient cores improve multi-threaded performance and handle low-priority and background tasks. We knew about the excellent test results of the Intel Core i7, but now let’s see how the new processor performs in real conditions.

New processors introduced; Credit: Intel.

Huge boost for games and content creation

Intel stated that the Intel Core i9-12900K, the top processor in the lineup, delivers up to 25% more FPS in Troy: A Total War Saga, up to 28% more FPS in Hitman 3, and up to 23% more FPS. on Far Cry 6. In addition to amazing gaming performance, 12th Gen Intel Core processors are said to deliver up to 36% faster photo editing performance, up to 32% faster video editing performance, up to 37% faster 3D modeling performance, and higher. 100% faster multi-frame rendering.

Overclocking

Intel also announced that the new processors offer efficient overclocking cores and DDR5 memory, and enthusiasts can try out the new platform’s overclocking features as part of the latest Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) 7.5. Intel also introduced the latest DDR5-enabled Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 3.0, offering additional profiles including new writable user profiles and flexible memory overclocking.

DDR5 and PCIe 5.0

The new 12th Gen Intel Core processors are also the first to support DDR5 memory, offering much faster speeds than DDR4, and they are also the first to provide PCIe 5.0 up to 16 lanes, resulting in twice the IOPS of PCIe 4.0. However, PCIe 5.0 compliant hardware is not currently available, but this will change soon.

Availability

The latest 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors are available for pre-order through select partners and retailers. However, they will be widely available from November 4th. The new line starts at $264 and can go up to $589. By the end of March 2022, Intel plans to ship 2 million of these processors. The price list for all processors launched today has been added below.

1. Core i9-12900K | 8 P core, 8 E core | Up to 5.2 GHz | 241W MTP | $589
2. Core i9-12900KF | 8 P core, 8 E core | Up to 5.2 GHz | 241W MTP | $564
3. Core i7-12700K | 8 P core, 4 E core | Up to 5.0 GHz | 190W MTP | $409
4. Core i7-12700KF | 8 P core, 4 E core | Up to 5.0 GHz | 190W MTP | $384
5. Core i5-12600K | 6 P core, 4 E core | Up to 4.9 GHz | 150W MTP | $289
6. Core i5-12600KF | 6 P core, 4 E core | Up to 4.9 GHz | 150W MTP | $264

Intel has bigger plans going beyond new desktop processors. Intel has big plans for its Alder Lake hybrid architecture, which could find applications in mobile and ultra-mobile chips that could be used in laptops and other portable devices in the future.

One more thing.. . actually two

Intel introduced the LGA1700 socket for use with 12th generation processors. This is a newer and larger outlet. The new socket has more pins and more space, though we’re looking at cooler mounting holes. The new processors are not backwards compatible, so users cannot use the old processors in the new socket. Current CPU coolers may require an adapter as the height of the CPU seems to have been reduced due to the reduction in thermal interface material layers to improve cooling.

ASUS ROG Z690

As new processors are introduced, motherboards will now offer a new chipset and here is the Z690 from Asus ROG. The ASUS ROG Strix Z690 chipset provides support for Intel’s Hybrid Performance Architecture along with additional PCIe 4.0 chipset lanes and native WiFi 6E support for gigabit speeds. It will also provide higher bandwidth and optional USB 3.2 for data transfer rates up to 20Gbps.