According to the latest BIOS for ASRock motherboards, the upcoming Intel Core i9-12900KS processor may feature something referred to as “Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost.”
While other Intel Alder Lake processors support the basic Thermal Velocity Boost, there has been no mention of an enhanced version so far. The update was spotted on ASRock’s website but seems to have been taken down since.
The thermal velocity boost offered by Intel is a technology that increases the clock speed when the processor’s temperatures allow it. If the workload requires it and the temperatures are below a certain level, Thermal Velocity Boost automatically unlocks higher frequency, allowing for an increase in CPU performance.
Thermal Velocity Boost can be enabled on some motherboards and it is supported by both 11th- and 12th-gen Intel processors. The specifications for the previous generation of Intel CPUs, dubbed Rocket Lake, actually included Thermal Velocity Boost. It was omitted from the official specs for Alder Lake, but the CPUs do seem to support this technology in combination with some motherboards.
As Intel hasn’t talked much (or at all) about this feature in terms of its 12th-gen processors, it’s no wonder that the mention of a possible Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost comes from a different source. The latest patches for ASRock Intel 600 series motherboards add the option to enable this enhanced boost specifically on the Intel Core i9-12900KS processor.
It remains unclear what the difference may be between the enhanced version and the standard version supported by processors like the Core i9-12900K. The BIOS update only mentions the upcoming Core i9-12900KS, which still remains unannounced, although a certain teaser during Intel’s CES 2022 keynote implies seems related to the alleged processor.
During CES 2022, Intel revealed that it’s planning to release a new 12th-gen processor from the KS series. The CPU would have a maximum turbo boost of up to 5.5GHz. While the company didn’t refer to it by name, it most likely is the Intel Core i9-12900KS we’re seeing in ASRock BIOS updates here. Interestingly enough, the BIOS updates seem to have been taken down from ASRock’s website and now only mention an update to Intel’s microcode.
We’re going to have to wait to hear from Intel where the CPU is concerned. As of now, it hasn’t been confirmed to be released on the consumer market. It may end up in prebuilts instead of being sold as a part for those who want to build their own PC.
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