Intel announces 12th Gen 'Alder Lake' desktop CPUs

Intel has officially announced its new 12th Gen Core processors for the desktop based on the company's Alder Lake architecture using a 10nm fabrication process.

Three of the six models include the Core i9-12900K, Core i7-12700K, and the Core i5-12600K, with the remaining three being the KF variant of the aforementioned models (the F signifies a lack of an integrated GPU).

"With the launch of six new unlocked desktop processors, including the world's best gaming processor, the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K. With a max turbo boost of up to 5.2 GHz and as many as 16 cores and 24 threads, the new desktop processors reach new heights of multi-threaded performance for enthusiast gamers and professional creators," the company said in a statement.

These new processors are built using the Intel 7 process and utilise a hybrid architecture that includes powerful P-Cores to handle demanding workloads and efficient E-Cores to handle less intensive workloads.


In terms of performance, Intel claims that the new 12th Gen processors are now the world's best gaming processors when compared against the Ryzen 9 5950X in 31 titles. The company also claims improved productivity performance over the previous generation Intel chips.

The 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake is also the first set of CPUs to support PCIe Gen 5 (up to 16 lanes) and DDR5 memory with up to 4800MT/s. Besides, these CPUs also come with integrated WiFi 6E support along with enhanced Intel UHD graphics based on Xe architecture.

Intel Core i9-12900K is priced at $589, the KF variant is available at $564. Core i7-12700K is priced at $409 and the KF variant is priced at $384.


Meanwhile, the Core i5-12600K will be available at $289 and the KF variant will cost $264 - IANS