Intel Unveils 12th Gen Intel Core & Launches A New Gaming Processor i9-12900K

On October 27 2021, Intel unveiled the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processor family with the launch of six new unlocked desktop processors, including 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 full 12th Gen Intel Core family will include 60 processors, set to power more than 500 designs from a broad set of partners. As detailed during Intel Architecture Day 2021, the new performance hybrid architecture, the first built on Intel 7 process, delivers scalable performance from 9 to 125 watts to enable every PC segment from ultra-thin-and-light laptops to enthusiast desktops and out to the edge.

“The performance hybrid architecture of 12th Gen Intel Core processors is an architectural shift made possible by close co-engineering of software and hardware that will deliver new levels of leadership performance for generations,” said Gregory Bryant, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group. “This begins with the arrival of our flagship Core i9-12900K – the world’s best gaming processor – and you will see even more incredible experiences as we ship the rest of the 12th Gen family and beyond.”

Game, Create and Overclock with Unlocked 12th Gen Desktop Processors

The six unlocked desktop processors launched today are the first based on Intel’s performance hybrid architecture featuring a combination of Performance-cores (P-cores), the highest performing CPU core Intel has built, and Efficient-cores (E-cores), designed for scalable multi-threaded workload performance.

Intel® Thread Director enables the two new core microarchitectures to work seamlessly together by guiding the operating system (OS) to place the right thread on the right core at the right time. Intel has worked with the ecosystem on extensive testing to optimize performance and compatibility, and as part of the company’s reinforced investments in the developer community, has published white papers for developers with guidance on how independent software vendors can optimize applications for performance hybrid platforms.

The Core i9-12900K provides amazing gen-over-gen performance increases; including higher FPS for recently launched AAA games. Enhanced by Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E for up to 75% less latency while gaming when multitasking. The high-frequency P-cores paired with E-cores for offloading parallel tasks enable up to 84% more frames per second for simultaneous gaming, streaming, and recording. Advancements in multi-threaded performance, the responsive performance of the P-cores and the ability to move data at incredible speeds with DDR5 enable much higher performance across all types of content creation experiences.

The new processors also offer industry-leading overclocking tools including the ability to overclock Efficient-cores and DDR5 memory. Enthusiasts and gamers can try these new platform overclocking features as part of the latest Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) 7.5. Starting with the Core i9-12900K, XTU will also support one-click overclocking with Intel Speed Optimizer for unlocked 12th Gen processors.

“We’re at the beginning of a new era for the PC led by the introduction of Windows 11,” said Panos Panay, executive vice president and chief product officer, Microsoft. “With Windows 11 and Intel’s new Thread Director technology, users will see their PC performance reach new heights on the new 12th Gen Intel Core family of processors.”

All-New Intel 600 Series Chipset

Alongside the 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors, Intel is launching the new Intel 600 Series Chipset with advanced features for increased reliability and performance. New PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes make for 28 total lanes off the chipset, integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 provides up to double the bandwidth, DMI Gen 4.0 increases the chipset to CPU throughput for fast access to peripheral devices and networking.

For the first time, Intel is bringing Intel® Volume Management Device (VMD) to PC chipsets to simplify storage control by allowing direct control and management of NVMe-based SSDs from the PCIe bus without additional RAID controllers or other hardware adaptors.