Intel is also heavily pushing Windows 11 as a key part of its Alder Lake lineup, noting that it’s worked with Microsoft to optimize its Intel Thread Director software to better manage tasks across threads when using the new OS. Intel is using a new LGA 1700 socket here, so you may even need a new cooler or slightly updated standoffs from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, with new chips comes the need for a new motherboard: Alder Lake will need a motherboard built on Intel’s newly announced Z690 chipset, which adds more modern conveniences like Wi-Fi 6E support and faster USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 data transfer.

All three new chips offer up to 20 PCIe lanes (split between 16 PCIe 5.0 and 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes), support for DDR5 memory at up to 4800MT/s (along with older DDR4 support at 3200MT/s), and larger 元 and L2 cache sizes.

Intel is also using the new chips to introduce a lot of future-facing support for more advanced standards. Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake desktop chips Modelīoosted clock speed, P-core / E-core (GHz) Each of the three new chips are also available in a KF variant that ditches the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 to shave a few bucks off the price. There’s also the Core i7-12700K (12 total cores and 20 threads, with eight P-cores and four E-cores) and the Core i5-12700K (10 total cores and 16 threads, with six P-cores and four E-cores) for those who don’t need as much firepower. All told, Intel promises a 19 percent performance improvement thanks to the new P-core architecture compared to its 11th Gen chips. Intel is kicking things off with three new chips, led by the Core i9-12900K model, which offers a total of 16 cores (split between eight performance forced “P-cores” and eight efficient “E-cores”) and 24 threads and is capable of reaching clock speeds of up to 5.2GHz using Intel’s Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology. But today’s announcement marks the culmination of those efforts in the form of actual hardware that you can buy and use.

The company has been teasing Alder Lake since CES 2021 in January, and it revealed a lot more details on the specifics of its hybrid architecture approach at its 2021 Architecture Day in July. Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake chips have finally arrived, ushering in a new era of the company’s chips, lead by the flagship Core i9-12900K CPU, which Intel promises is the “world’s best gaming processor.”

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