Intel announced the first 12th generation chip sets as part of the new Alder Lake family last year. These chips are built on Intel 7 nodes and offer the company’s new hybrid technology with P cores and E cores. The 12th generation Alder Lake desktop processor family will feature up to 22 new SKUs with power The ultimate in power and scalable performance for gaming, creativity, and productivity.
Just like last year’s announcement, there’s a lot to talk about here. Intel’s new product line includes both 65W and 35W CPUs. From the low-powered Celeron G6900T (35W) to the 65W Core i9-12900 (F), we now have a complete range of computer chips to choose from.
Table of Contents
Understanding Intel CPU Suffixes
If you read Intel’s Chip name, you will often encounter letters at the end, also known as suffixes, so what do these letters mean.
No suffix at the end
These are CPUs designed for the most basic desktop market, neither redundant nor lacking in features for ordinary users. Often referred to as non-K CPUs with no overclocking capabilities, it is used to distinguish them from CPUs with the K suffix.
CPUs with the suffix K at the end
These are clocked unlocked CPUs and have overclocking support for increased performance that allows you to overclock beyond the NSX’s native clock. However, that comes at the expense of a hotter CPU and more power consumption.
CPUs with the suffix F at the end
These are normal CPUs but not equipped with iGPU only. Because of the removal of iGPU, the price of these CPUs will be a bit cheaper than regular CPUs.
CPU with suffix KF
These are overclockable “K” and “F” hybrid CPUs and are not equipped with an iGPU.
CPU with suffix X
CPUs with the suffix X at the end are certainly expensive and will use a separate socket that is a CPU with multiple cores, high clock speed, hyperthreading, and all overclocking capabilities. These CPUs are for professional users, they will meet many work needs that Core I CPUs can hardly meet.
CPU with suffix XE
CPU X and XE have almost no specific concept to distinguish between these two CPU lines. However, we can simply understand as follows: XE is the best CPU in the X series.
List of 12th generation intel chips Alder Lake-S (non-K)
| Specification | Intel Core i9-12900 | Intel Core i7-12700 | Intel Core i5-12600 | Intel Core i5-12500 | Intel Core i5-12400 | Intel Core i3-12300 | Intel Core i3-12100 | Pentium Gold G7400 | Celeron G6900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 16 (8P + 8E) | 12 (8P + 4E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 4 (4P + 0E) | 4 (6P + 0E) | 2 (2P + 0E) | 2 (2P + 0E) |
| Threads | 24 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Base Frequency | 2.4GHz (P-core) | 1.8GHz (E-core) | 2.1GHz (P-core) | 1.6GHz (E-core) | 3.3GHz | 3.0GHz | 2.5GHz | 3.5GHz | 3.3GHz | 3.7GHz | 3.4GHz |
| Boost Frequency | 5.0GHz (P-core) | 3.8GHz (E-core) | 4.8GHz (P-core) | 3.6GHz (E-core) | 4.8GHz | 4.6GHz | 4.4GHz | 4.4GHz | 4.3GHz | N/A | N/A |
| L3 Cache | 30MB | 25MB | 18MB | 18MB | 18MB | 12MB | 12MB | 6MB | 4MB |
| Default TDP | 65W | 65W | 65W | 65W | 65W | 60W | 60W | 46W | 46W |
| Memory Support | DDR4 3200MT/s | DDR5-4800MT/s Up to 128GB |
DDR4 3200MT/s | DDR5-4800MT/s Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
| Integrated Graphics | UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 710 | Intel UHD Graphics 710 |
| RCP Pricing | $489 | $339 | $223 | $202 | $192 | $143 | $122 | $64 | $42 |
In addition to the SKUs mentioned above, you will also be able to purchase variants of Core i5, i7 and i9 CPUs without integrated graphics. They are indicated by the suffix ‘F’. For example, the Core i5-12600 is also available in the Core i5-12600F version, with the only real difference being the lack of an iGPU. These ‘F’ variants cost a bit less and are a good choice if you already have a discrete graphics card for your PC.
In terms of performance, Intel says the Intel Core i5-12600 is said to be up to 31% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G in some workloads (note this is just a statement). Furthermore, Intel is also claiming a significant generational performance boost with the Core i9-12900 compared to the last generation Core i9-11900 CPU.
Low Power 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake-S Processor
Intel’s Alder Lake-S desktop series also includes low-power CPUs with a base power of 35W.
| Specification | Intel Core i9-12900T | Intel Core i7-12700T | Intel Core i5-12600T | Intel Core i5-12500T | Intel Core i5-12400T | Intel Core i3-12300T | Intel Core i3-12100T | Pentium Gold G7400T | Celeron G6900T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 16 (8P + 8E) | 12 (8P + 4E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 6 (6P + 0E) | 4 (4P + 0E) | 4 (6P + 0E) | 2 (2P + 0E) | 2 (2P + 0E) |
| Threads | 24 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Base Frequency | 1.4GHz (P-core) | 1.0GHz (E-core) | 1.4GHz (P-core) | 1.0GHz (E-core) | 2.1GHz | 2.0GHz | 1.8GHz | 2.3GHz | 2.2GHz | 3.1GHz | 2.8GHz |
| Boost Frequency | 4.8GHz (P-core) | 3.6GHz (E-core) | 4.6GHz (P-core) | 3.4GHz (E-core) | 4.6GHz | 4.4GHz | 4.2GHz | 4.2GHz | 4.1GHz | N/A | N/A |
| L3 Cache | 30MB | 25MB | 18MB | 18MB | 18MB | 12MB | 12MB | 6MB | 4MB |
| Default TDP | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W | 35W |
| Memory Support | DDR4 3200MT/s | DDR5-4800MT/s Up to 128GB |
DDR4 3200MT/s | DDR5-4800MT/s Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
DDR4-3200 | DDR5-4800 Up to 128GB |
| Integrated Graphics | UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 770 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 730 | Intel UHD Graphics 710 | Intel UHD Graphics 710 |
| RCP Pricing | $489 | $339 | $223 | $202 | $192 | $143 | $122 | $64 | $42 |
Platform & Compatibility
The new Intel CPU family to join the Alder Lake family will also include its own CPU cooler inside the box. Intel has announced a new series of CPU coolers called Laminar coolers. These chip chillers will be bundled with 65W CPUs. There are three new CPU coolers – Intel Laminar RH1, Laminar RM1 and Laminar RS1. Only Laminar RH1 comes with Core i9-12900 which comes with RGB lighting system.
Another new addition to the Alder Lake family is the introduction of new Intel 600 series chipset SKUs. Intel’s current Alder Lake CPUs have shown surprising performance gains over the previous generation as well as competing chips from AMD. The new line of chips added to the Alder Lake family also looks promising.
Price & release date
Intel’s new 12th Gen Alder Lake mainstream CPUs start at $42 for the Celeron G6900 and go all the way up to $489 for the Core i9-12900. These new processors are now available for purchase, and you can find the prices of each CPU in the specifications table above.
The new, relatively low-powered mainstream CPUs may not be as powerful as the fully unlocked chips that came out last year, but they’ll also save you some money on PC builds. Not to mention, you’ll also be able to buy more affordable motherboards.
Intel has also partnered with many OEMs to provide the best support for Alder Lake CPUs. We’ll see new Project Athena-based desktop designs around the Alder Lake chips on the Intel vPro platform.
