Intel Alder Lake Non-K Desktop CPUs Break Cover As Specs Leak In Retailer Listing
You want to have a look at the non-overclockable versions of Intel's Alder Lake 12Th Gen Core desktop CPU lineup? Well, there they are, pictured plain as day right above this text. Have a gander, if you want. These pictures come to us by way of a post on Zhihu, which is a Chinese social media site that is sort of like someone stuck Twitter and Yahoo Answers in a blender. Poster DDAA117 slapped up these images along with a snarky remark mocking foreign (to China) Tech press and commenting that the chips are already "rotting in the street" over in China.
These do appear to be legitimate photos of Intel's mainstream 12th-generation desktop processors, and assuming that they are legitimate, they're also the first pictures of said chips. However, there are a number of models are missing from the pile of pictures, including the Core i7 (presumably numbered "12700"), any Core i3s, and all of the "F" SKUs that will come minus their Xe integrated graphics. (DDAA117 included the Core i5-12500 in his photos, but we omitted it for brevity.)
Along with the photos, DDAA117 was kind enough to share CPU-Z screenshots with the world, as well. These shots seem to confirm some of the specifications leaked a few days ago by renowned Twitter leaker momomo_us. That tweet, which is just a cryptic pile of numbers at first glance, lists the the base and turbo clocks of each SKU in the non-K desktop Alder Lake family, as well as the L3 cache totals.DDAA117's information confirms the cache details in momomo_us' tweet on the Core i9 and Core i5 models.
Meanwhile, in another tweet yesterday, momomo_us pointed out two listings on a Bangladeshi marketplace for the Core i7-12700 and Core i5-12400. The Core i7's page would seem to corroborate momomo_us' information further, although the Core i5's details incorrectly list 25 MB of L3 cache. We know that's wrong, given DDAA117's CPU-Z shots.
Interestingly—and matching earlier rumors—the non-K Core i5s, even the top 12600 model, seem to be entirely lacking the low-power E-cores found in larger Alder Lake processors. As we said back when that concept was originally brought to light, a chip with just six Golden Cove P-cores that's unlocked for overclocking could be a performance-per-dollar beast.
Naturally, Intel apparently isn't going to release any such thing. It seems likely that the lower-end P-core only processors use a separate die from the 8+8 die used in the overclockable chips, so they'll probably be a fair bit cheaper. If you want that overclockable Core i5, get ready to pay for it—although the price is still quite fantastic given the performance it provides.
We unfortunately don't have any pricing data on the upcoming parts, but momomo_us seems to think that we'll see these new mainstream Alder Lake CPUs in the middle of January.
