Luke and Leo Get Technical (Ep11) – Intel 12th Gen Debrief

Intel launched their new 12th Gen series of Alder Lake processors just a few days ago and have now really taken the fight to AMD. There's are plenty of new parts with this one – a new process node, new architecture, new core design, new platform, new socket, DDR5 memory support, and even Windows 11 benefits. Luke and Leo get into the talking points and discuss their opinions on the 12th Gen launch with particular focus on the Core i9-12900K and Core i5-12600K. 

Timestamps:

00:00 Video start
00:15 Setting the scene – is Luke a real person?
01:08 Luke sums up Intel 12th Gen
02:55 The i9 headlines, but how about that i5!
04:48 Intel 10nm is not that great however
06:49 Intel got the launch right, says Leo
08:04 Do AMD users need to switch to Win11?
10:58 DDR5 has arrived but DDR4 is still kicking
15:27 DDR5 has got off to a very smooth start however
16:55 Luke’s review of GOODRAM
18:48 Wrapping up

Video Points

Is Luke a Real Person?!

• Uh… Yes! Does that come as a surprise?
• Leo is the mechanised perfection species, of course!

Intel 12^th Gen Has Launched!

• Leo has reviewed the Core i9-12900K flagship and the Core i5-12600K – check out those videos and articles!
  • The Core i7-12700K review will be coming soon – check back for that
• We also looked at DDR4 vs DDR5, with some interesting results

Luke Sums Up Intel 12^th Gen:

• The two key words that spring to mind are; ‘wow’ and ‘surprised’
• Intel has done a really good job here and the outcome is far better than we anticipated!
• The performance competition versus AMD is very strong, even with Intel’s very different core configuration of Performance + Efficient
• We were still surprised by the performance shown before eyes, even in light of Intel’s suggested benchmark numbers

The Core i9 headlines, but how about that Core i5!

• Just the Core i5, i7, i9 K and KF parts have launched thus far
  • More chips and variations are likely coming over the next few weeks and months
• The Core i5-12600K is an absolute winner!
  • It was so good that Leo and Luke had to stop and do a sanity check with each other!
• Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, old Core i9 – all these chips have been put on notice by the new 12600K!
  • Price, performance, general operations – the Core i5 really is an all-round champ
• Even the overclocking is quite reasonable and boost the performance tangibly

Intel 10nm is not that great:

• The new Intel 7 (10nm-based) process is a step up from revised 14nm of previous generations, but it is still not that great
• Intel is still way off its intended track and won’t be competitive versus current TSMC 7nm until at least later in 2022
• A huge part of AMD’s success is TSMC
  • How bad would Zen 3 be if it was fabbed on the highest performance Global Foundries process option?
• Core i9-12900K is still horrible in terms of power and thermals
  • Auto overclocking has limited headroom
  • Leo’s instinct is that the 12900K is pushed to its limits out of the box
• This revised 10nm process does seem to be a considerable rank behind 14+++ in terms of frequencies

Intel, the motherboard partners, Microsoft, and memory vendors did a superb job for this launch!

• We were shocked by how well the launch went, especially given the sheer quantity of new introductions and features – not least a new OS!
  • As a side note, will you be moving to Windows 11 anytime soon? Or will you wait it out for a little while?
  • If you have moved, how do you find the new OS?
• Windows 11 seems to make a lot of sense for Intel in certain benchmarks and thanks to Thread Director

Do AMD users need to switch to Windows 11?

• Luke is not in any rush to upgrade his Windows 10 AMD systems to Windows 11
  • Largely because Windows 10 is so good and stable
  • Plus, Windows 11 doesn’t seem to be a massive improvement but does add some aesthetics changes (which irritates Luke)
• There are still minor performance losses for AMD on Windows 11, particularly in terms of memory latency
• There are no critical Windows 11 features that should make current AMD Windows 10 users rush out to get the upgrade in Luke’s opinion
• Despite not generally being an early adopted, Leo is running Windows 11 on his Threadripper 2000 system
  • And so far, so good
  • He had a small hope that Windows 11 would cause issue and give him a great excuse to upgrade to Threadripper 3000!

DDR5 has arrived! But DDR4 is certainly not irrelevant!

• Check out our DDR4 vs DDR5 content using the Core i9-12900K
  • This is one of the first times on the desktop components side of things that we have been able to accurately compare two different memory generations without significant test system caveats
• Component motherboard options support DDR4, with higher-end supporting DDR5
  • That is quite unusual, and highlights the confidence that remains in DDR4
• If your workload requires high memory bandwidth, DDR5 flies
  • It’s not so good on the latency side of things, though
• And games are somewhat indifferent for DDR4 vs DDR5
  • High-end DDR4 can and does beat DDR5 often
• 3600MHz dual-rank kit of DDR4 with some nice timings still looks like a superb go-to option
  • Plus, it’s probably £150+ cheaper than current DDR5 offerings
• Do you think that DDR5 development and improvement will be rapid given that Intel now offers mainstream support?
  • PCIe Gen 4 storage, by comparison, matured quite slowly before Intel’s platform supported Gen 4
• Give DDR5 some credit, though
  • It is performing pretty well versus some very mature and high-end, platform-optimised DDR4 kits that we put it up against

DDR5 has got off to a very smooth start!

• We have actually been surprised (and very impressed) by how smooth the introduction of DDR5 has been on this new Intel platform
  • Kudos to Intel and the motherboard partners and memory vendors
• DDR4 by comparison was a disastrous launch
  • It barely worked properly for many months on the X99 launch platform
• Current ‘premium’ DDR5 kits will realistically be considered bargain basement options very soon
  • The JEDEC spec is 4800MHz, but no doubt we will see actual availability of 6GHz+ kits into the new year
• Leo is looking forward to his 7000MHz DDR5 kit with latencies in the 30s!
• Lower voltage of DDR5 is perhaps useful
  • You can now waste that energy saved by strapping more RGB to the modules!

Did you see our Goodram DDR4 memory review?

• We caused some significant offence to the YouTube algorithm…somehow
• Did you see the video?
  • We would be interested to see if it got hidden from you
• It was a decent kit of memory, but quite an odd situation with the YouTube algorithm
• If you can work out what we said to cause offence, let us know
  • Ideally not beneath the video though, as that’ll probably make things worse!
  • Use the KitGuru website instead

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: The launch of Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake has been a great success. There is plenty more coverage to come, so stay tuned!

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