Intel announces Alder Lake 12th Gen Core i9, i7, and i5 chips for desktops

Intel's new desktop processors will work the same as your smartphone's processors.

Intel has announced the Alder Lake 12th Gen Core desktop processors. There are six models in the lineup, including the flagship Core i9-12900K CPU, which Intel calls the world’s best gaming processor. Intel’s Alder Lake architecture uses the 10nm fabrication process but what really stands out is the hybrid approach. These CPUs use both performance and efficiency cores to distribute the workload, giving an optimised performance - something that makes Intel closer to matching Arm-based chipsets.

There are three base models - Intel Core i9-12900K, Core i7-12700K, and Core i5-12600K - and the remaining three models come with the KF suffix at the end, where F denotes lack of an integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 GPU. Intel’s new desktop chipsets also mark the launch of the DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 standard for storage interconnection, meaning better data relay, and thus, better performance. While that is one of the reasons behind Intel’s claim that the top model in the line-up is the best gaming CPU in the world, a lot is riding on the new hybrid architecture.