Intel Core i7-12700K Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU Sample Spotted, 12 Cores & 20 Threads With 25 MB Cache

An entry of Intel's Alder Lake-S based Core i7-12700K CPU has presumably been discovered within the SiSoftware Sandra database. The CPU spotted was running on a desktop platform & will be part of the Alder Lake-S segment which is headed for launch later this year.

Intel Core i7-12700K Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU Spotted - 12 Cores, 20 Threads & 25 MB of L3 Cache

The CPU has no name but given its specifications, we are most definitely looking at Intel's Core i7-12700K (12700) SKU based on older leaks. The sample features 12 cores of which 8 are based on the Golden Cove and 4 should be based on the Goldmont architecture. This should give us a total of 24 threads (16 threads from performance cores and 8 threads from efficiency cores). As for the clock speeds, since this is an engineering sample, we are looking at a 1.20 GHz base and 3.40 GHz boost frequency but expect them to be much higher in retail and final qualification variants.

Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake 35W Desktop CPU Lineup Leaks Out – Core i9 With 16, Core i7 With 12, Core i5 With 6 & Core i3 With 4 Cores

Intel Alder Lake-S Core i7-12700K ES Desktop CPU Listing at SiSoftware (Image Source: Momomo):

As for the cache, well first thing's first, existing software suites aren't fully updated to recognize the Alder Lake-S hybrid CPUs fully, as such, the actual core and thread count may be inaccurate. This is the case here as the chip is actually identified as a 12 core and 24 thread CPU while in actuality, it should be 12 core and 20 threads. The cache count is correctly displayed for 9 cores which means that the software is reading the 8 performance cores correctly but the efficiency core cluster that is made up of 4 cores is being recognized as 1 whole core. More details on the cache configuration of Alder Lake-S CPUs can be found here.

Probably i7 12700K
- 12C 20T (misreported as 24T)
- 8*1.25MB + 4*384KB = 11.5MB L2
> L2 cache is reported as 9 core, I think that is right due to 4 small core = 1 cluster. Benchmark could recognize cluster unit.
- 8*2.75MB(cut from full of 3MB) + 4*768KB = 25MB L3 https://t.co/fO84Bz2qM3

— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) August 9, 2021

The cache is also being displayed for all 9 cores at 1.25 MB per core when this is not the case. The performance cores carry 1.25 MB cache & the efficiency cores would carry 2 MB cache per 4 core cluster. The L3 cache count falls in line with the previous rumors which placed the Core i7-12700K at 25 MB cache. It looks like the cache will be cut down on certain Alder Lake-S configurations with this chip in particular rocking 2.75 MB (3 MB full) L3 cache on performance and a 3 MB cache per efficiency core cluster.

Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake Desktop CPU Specs "Rumored"

Following is what the core configuration of all Alder Lake CPUs is rumored to look like:

• Intel Core i9 K-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads
• Intel Core i7 K-Series (8 Golden + 4 Grace) = 12 Cores / 20 Threads
• Intel Core i5 K-Series (6 Golden + 4 Grace) = 10 Cores / 16 Threads
• Intel Core i9 A-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads
• Intel Core i7 A-Series (8 Golden + 4 Grace) = 12 Cores / 20 Threads
• Intel Core i5 A-Series (6 Golden + 0 Grace) = 6 Cores / 12 Threads
• Intel Core i3 A-Series (4 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 8 Threads

The Alder Lake-S Core i7-12700K CPU was tested on a desktop platform comprising of 16 GB DDR5-4800 (PC76800) memory. Judging by the test setup, this is definitely a preliminary test board & not a proper Z690 motherboard that are expected to launch in Q4 2021.

News Sources: Momomo_US , HXL