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Intel Alder Lake may be up to 45% faster than the previous generation

The release of Intel Alder Lake is on the horizon, and the closer we get to the big day, the more benchmarks are leaked to the public. Today, a CPU-Z test was posted on Twitter by @TUM_APISAK showcasing the performance of the Intel Core i7-12700K. Compared to other processors from a similar price bracket, Intel’s 12th-gen CPU showed an impressive performance increase — as high as 45%.

Being a Core i7 processor, this CPU is not at the top of Intel’s new line of components. This means that it can safely be compared to CPUs in a similar price range, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or the Intel Core i7-11700K. Taking that into the consideration, the performance boost is even higher than when compared to a high-end CPU like the Core i9-11900K.

Intel Core 12th-gen processor boxes.
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In single-core tests, the Intel Core i7-12700K scored 800.2 points in the CPU-Z benchmark. Multi-core performance was rated at 9,423.2 points. This means that in single-core tests, this CPU outperformed the Intel Core i9-11900K by around 17.3%, the Intel Core i7-11700K by up to 24%, and lastly, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X by 25%.

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Multi-core test results are even better — the Intel Core i7-12700K is up to 45% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X. It also compares excellently against its predecessor. The multi-core performance of the Core i7-12700K is up to 50% faster than the previous generation.

While Alder Lake comes out on top in nearly every benchmark, it is still beaten in multi-core performance by the 12-core, 24-thread AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. However, the difference is marginal, with the Ryzen 9 5900X being about 2% faster than the Core i7-12700K. This still puts it at the top of the list of the best processors out there.

As far as cores go, Intel Alder Lake is going to offer a mix of performance and efficiency cores. It’s equipped with 8 Golden Cove cores, but only 4 Gracemont cores, for a total of 12 cores and 20 threads.

An engineer smiles as she holds up two processor chips.
The 12th generation of Intel processors, Alder Lake, is set to release in the fall. (Image credit: Intel) Image used with permission by copyright holder

Clock speeds will vary between the two core types. Golden Cove (performance cores) will run at a base clock speed of 3.6GHz, with a boost of up to 5.0GHz with a maximum of two cores active. When all cores are active, the frequency will cap out at 4.7GHz. Gracemont (efficiency cores) will operate at 3.8GHz with up to four cores active, and at 3.6GHz at most when all the cores are being used. These speeds are combined with 25MB of L3 cache.

Intel has also recently revealed on Twitter what Intel Alder Lake chips are going to look like. We have seen leaked images before, but this is the first reveal from an official source. The official release date for Intel’s 12th generation of processors remains to be seen, although rumors point to the beginning of November. The pricing of these processors also remains to be seen, although Amazon recently spoiled some of the prices ahead of time.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
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