An entry of Intel's Alder Lake-S based Core i9-12900K CPU has presumably been discovered within the UserBenchmark Database. The CPU spotted was running on a desktop platform & will be part of the Alder Lake-S segment which is headed for launch later this year.
Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU Spotted - 16 Cores, 24 Threads & 30 MB of L3 Cache
The CPU has no name but given its specifications, we are most definitely looking at Intel's Core i9-12900K (12900) SKU based on older leaks. The sample features 16 cores of which 8 are based on the Golden Cove and 8 should be based on the Goldmont architecture. This should give us a total of 24 threads (16 threads from performance cores and 8 threads from efficiency cores). As for the clock speeds, since this is an engineering sample, we are looking at a 1.80 GHz base and 3.65 GHz boost frequency but expect them to be much higher in retail and final qualification variants.
Intel Alder Lake-S Core i7-12900K ES Desktop CPU Listing at UserBenchmark (Image Source: BenchLeaks):
The cache count is correctly displayed for 10 cores which means that the software is reading the 8 performance cores correctly but the efficiency core cluster that is made up of 4 cores is being recognized as 1 whole core. More details on the cache configuration of Alder Lake-S CPUs can be found here. So in total, we are looking at 3 MB per performance core which equals 24 MB, and 3 MB per efficiency core cluster which equals 6 MB. Coming that and we get a total of 30 MB of L3 cache on the Intel Core i9-12900K Desktop CPU.
The L3 cache count falls in line with the previous rumors which placed the Core i9-12900K at 30 MB cache. As for the performance, well its nothing special right now given the extremely low clocks on these engineering samples but considering that we are getting close to Q4 2021, we would soon be getting QS level chips appearing on the same benchmark sites which would show us the real power of Intel's Alder Lake Desktop lineup.
Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake Desktop CPU Specs
| CPU Name | P-Core Count | E-Core Count | Total Core / Thread | P-Core Base / Boost (Max) | P-Core Boost (All-Core) | E-Core Base / Boost | E-Core Boost (All-Core) | L3 Cache | TDP (PL1) | TDP (PL2) | Expected (MSRP) Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9-12900KS | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | 3.4 / 5.5 GHz | 5.2 GHz | 2.4 / 3.9 GHz | 3.7 GHz | 30 MB | 150W | 260W | $739 US |
| Core i9-12900K | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | 3.2 / 5.2 GHz | 5.0 GHz | 2.4 / 3.9 GHz | 3.7 GHz | 30 MB | 125W | 241W | $599 US |
| Core i9-12900 | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | 2.4 / 5.1 GHz | TBA | 1.8 / 3.8 GHz | TBA | 30 MB | 65W | 202W | $489 US $464 US (F) |
| Core i9-12900T | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | 1.4 / 4.9 GHz | TBA | 1.0 / 3.6 GHz | TBA | 30 MB | 35W | 106W | $489 US |
| Core i7-12700K | 8 | 4 | 12 / 20 | 3.6 / 5.0 GHz | 4.7 GHz | 2.7 / 3.8 GHz | 3.6 GHz | 25 MB | 125W | 190W | $419 US |
| Core i7-12700 | 8 | 4 | 12 / 20 | 2.1 / 4.9 GHz | TBA | 1.6 / 3.6 GHz | TBA | 25 MB | 65W | 180W | $339 US $314 US (F) |
| Core i7-12700T | 8 | 4 | 12 / 20 | 1.4 / 4.7 GHz | TBA | 1.0 / 3.4 GHz | TBA | 25 MB | 35W | 99W | $339 US |
| Core i5-12600K | 6 | 4 | 10 / 16 | 3.7 / 4.9 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 2.8 / 3.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz | 20 MB | 125W | 150W | $299 US |
| Core i5-12600 | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 3.3 / 4.8 GHz | 4.4 GHz | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 65W | 117W | $223 US |
| Core i5-12600T | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 2.1 / 4.6 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 65W | 74W | $223 US |
| Core i5-12490P | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 3.0 / 4.6 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 20 MB | 65W | 74W | ~$250 US |
| Core i5-12500 | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 3.0 / 4.6 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 65W | 117W | $202 US |
| Core i5-12500T | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 2.0 / 4.4 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 35W | 74W | $202 US |
| Core i5-12400 | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 2.5 / 4.4 GHz | 4.0 GHz | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 65W | 117W | $192 US $167 US (F) |
| Core i5-12400T | 6 | 0 | 6 / 12 | 1.8 / 4.2 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 18 MB | 35W | 74W | $192 US |
| Core i3-12300 | 4 | 0 | 4 / 8 | 3.5 / 4.4 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 12 MB | 60W | 89W | $143 US |
| Core i3-12300T | 4 | 0 | 4 / 8 | 2.3 / 4.2 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 12 MB | 35W | 69W | $143 US |
| Core i3-12100 | 4 | 0 | 4 / 8 | 3.3 / 4.3 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 12 MB | 60W 58W (F) | 89W | $122 US $97 US (F) |
| Core i3-12100T | 4 | 0 | 4 / 8 | 2.2 / 4.1 GHz | TBA | N/A | N/A | 12 MB | 35W | 69W | $122 US |
| Intel Pentium Gold G7400 | 2 | 0 | 2 / 4 | 3.7 GHz | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6 MB | 46W | N/A | $64 US |
| Intel Pentium Gold G7400T | 2 | 0 | 2 / 4 | 3.1 GHz | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6 MB | 35W | N/A | $64 US |
| Intel Celeron G6900 | 2 | 0 | 2 / 2 | 3.4 GHz | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 MB | 46W | N/A | $42 US |
| Intel Celeron G6900T | 2 | 0 | 2 / 2 | 2.8 GHz | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 MB | 35W | N/A | $42 US |
Following is what the core configuration of all Alder Lake CPUs is rumored to look like:
- Intel Core i9 K-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads
- Intel Core i7 K-Series (8 Golden + 4 Grace) = 12 Cores / 20 Threads
- Intel Core i5 K-Series (6 Golden + 4 Grace) = 10 Cores / 16 Threads
- Intel Core i9 A-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads
- Intel Core i7 A-Series (8 Golden + 4 Grace) = 12 Cores / 20 Threads
- Intel Core i5 A-Series (6 Golden + 0 Grace) = 6 Cores / 12 Threads
- Intel Core i3 A-Series (4 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 8 Threads
The Alder Lake-S Core i9-12900K CPU was tested on an HP OMEN 45L desktop platform comprising 16 GB DDR4-3200 memory. Judging by the test setup, this is definitely a preliminary test board & not a proper Z690 motherboard that is expected to launch in Q4 2021. The chip will definitely be a 125W variant with a maximum power limit of up to 468W (PL4) as detailed here.
We have recently seen a lot of entries for Intel Alder Lake CPUs that comprised both DDR5 and DDR4 memory configurations so it looks like early rumors are indeed right and we could see a mixed memory configuration on high-end and entry-level 600-series platforms similar to the 100-series Skylake platform.
The Intel Alder Lake-S Desktop lineup and the Z690 platform are expected to launch on the 27th of October & will be the first mainstream consumer platform to utilize PCIe5.0 and DDR5 technologies along with a new hybrid architecture approach, something Microsoft has optimized for its Windows 11 operating system. As for the mobility Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-M Mobility CPU lineups, they are expected to get both DDR5 and DDR4 memory support and will launch in Q1 2022.
News Source: Benchleaks
