Skip to main content

One of the biggest sources of benchmark leaks just got plugged

Over the past few months, Geekbench has served as one of the main sources of Intel Alder Lake benchmark leaks. But it seems Primate Labs, the company behind the popular benchmarking utility, isn’t interested in meddling in prerelease matters anymore. Going forward, Geekbench will not accept results from prerelease chips.

The news was shared by @BenchLeaks on Twitter, a popular source for prerelease benchmarks. A page on the Geekbench website now reads: “Primate Labs prevents prerelease hardware benchmark results from being displayed on the Geekbench Browser. Pre-release hardware includes engineering samples (ES), qualification samples (QS), and retail hardware not yet available for sale.”

GeekBench logo on blue background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Although disappointing, the change is probably for the best. We’ve seen numerous leaked Alder Lake benchmarks from Geekbench, and the results don’t say much. A trial run in August showed the Core i7-12700 falling short of AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X in the single-care and multi-core benchmark. However, another run on the Core i9-12900K later in the month showed the upcoming flagship best AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X.

Recommended Videos

These are prerelease benchmarks, so we always recommend taking them with skepticism. As the two results above show, prerelease benchmarks aren’t always the best way to gauge performance, even if they give enthusiasts something to pore over as they anticipate the launch of new hardware.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Geekbench has long served as a safe haven for prerelease benchmarks, from CPUs to graphics cards, and even smartphones. Primate Labs has shown that it’s willing to take steps to retain its credibility. In July, the company pulled the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro from its benchmark chart after it was discovered that the phone throttled apps outside of benchmarks.

For CPUs, the concern comes down to ES and QS hardware. These types of CPUs aren’t the final versions that will ship to retailers, and they’re subject to change. On top of that, ES and QS CPUs go out to manufacturing partners, engineers, and others that may need access to the CPUs ahead of launch and also need to disable cores or features.

The benchmark featuring the Core i7-12700, for example, showed the processor with eight cores and 16 threads. That CPU is rumored to launch with 12 cores and 20 threads, suggesting some of the cores were disabled during the test.

Ultimately, it’s a good decision from Geekbench. Although prerelease benchmarks offer a window into performance, they need context. Even accurate prerelease benchmarks don’t tell the full story. It’s about taking performance across multiple tasks and benchmarking utilities, not relying on a single source.

Still, we’ll have a harder time knowing how upcoming processors will perform, which is a shame given that RTX 40-series graphics cards and AMD Zen 4 CPUs are set to launch next year.

Jacob Roach
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
Apple’s Vision Pro is getting the M5 chip, but that’s not what it really needs
Two people talk while one wears an Apple Vision Pro headset. Their eyes are visible through the device using the EyeSight feature.

We’ve not yet seen the full rollout of Apple’s M4 chip family -- the M4 Ultra is still yet to make an appearance -- but already we’ve just learned that the M5 chip is now in production. That means it’ll probably arrive in Macs either late this year or early next year.

If you’ve been waiting to buy a new MacBook Pro, that could mean 2026 is the year to finally pull the trigger. After all, Apple is expected to fully redesign its flagship laptop for next year’s release, and if that coincides with a powerful new M5 chip, all the better.

Read more
This Acer Predator gaming PC with RTX 4070 Ti Super is $350 off
The side profile of the Acer Predator Orion 5000 gaming PC.

You should be careful if you're thinking about upgrading with gaming PC deals, as not all machines are worth your hard-earned money. Here's one that we highly recommend: the Acer Predator Orion 5000 at $350 off from Best Buy, which brings its price down to $1,750 from $2,100. It's still not what you'd call affordable after that discount, but this is the type of machine that you will never regret buying. You're going to want to complete your transaction for it as soon as possible though, as there's no telling when the offer expires.

Why you should buy the Acer Predator Orion 5000 gaming PC
The Acer Predator Orion 5000 challenges the best gaming PCs with specifications that will let you play the best PC games at their most demanding settings. It's powered by the 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics card, along with 32GB of RAM that our guide on how much RAM do you need says is the sweet spot for high-end gamers. The gaming desktop also comes with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded in its 2TB SSD, which will provide enough storage space for multiple AAA titles with all their necessary updates and optional add-ons.

Read more
Grab this Lenovo Legion gaming PC while it’s under $1,000
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 gaming PC on a white background.

You don't need to spend more than $1,000 in upgrading your gaming desktop, as there are gaming PC deals out there with huge discounts on powerful machines. You won't have to do the searching yourself though, as we've done that for you -- check out the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8, which is available with a 30% discount from Lenovo that drops its price from $1,330 to only $930. There are only limited stocks for this computer though, so you have to hurry with your purchase if you want to secure the $400 in savings.

Why you should buy the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 gaming PC
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 is an affordable gaming desktop that's built similar to the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i, which appears in our list of the best gaming PCs as our favorite option for below $1,000. The major difference is that the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 8 is powered by AMD -- the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, to be exact, alongside the AMD Radeon RX 7600 graphics card and 16GB of RAM that's the best place to start for gaming, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. With these specifications, you'll be able to play the best PC games on this gaming PC without any issues.

Read more