We recently learned that Intel’s new flagship 12th Gen Core i9-12900KS processor will arrive on April 5th. The company touts it as the “world’s fastest desktop processor,” and it’ll be one expensive chip.
Intel’s Talking Tech event will stream live on Twitch at 12 PM PT, and while there will be a lot going on during the event, enthusiasts will get to build new PCs with Intel’s new flagship Alder Lake chip. After confirming the KS would debut on April 5th, Intel has shared a full press release with plenty of details, not to mention the $739 price tag for its new CPU.
The new chip enables up to 5.5GHz max turbo frequency (on a single core), and Intel claims it’s the fastest desktop processor consumers can buy. Not only does Intel say it’s the “world’s fastest desktop processor,” but they’re pushing it as the “ultimate CPU for enthusiasts” thanks to those fast speeds.
While Intel’s Core i9-12900KS can reach a top speed of 5.5GHz on a single core, which is pretty impressive, that’s just one aspect of its speed. This chip features eight performance cores running at 5.2GHz and eight E cores (efficiency cores) running at 4.0GHz. And while that only nudges the 12900K out by a small margin, it’s still an improvement for die-hard enthusiasts.
Fast clock speeds are great, but how well the 12900KS performs in real-world apps and games will be the most important factor. Well, that and the price tag. That’s because AMD’s new Ryzen 7 5800X3D comes out on April 20th for $449, making Intel’s latest chip significantly more expensive.
And while Intel says the asking price will be $739 for the 12 Gen ‘KS’ chip, we’ve already seen Newegg listings asking $799, so we’ll have to wait and see. This new ultra-fast and high-performance desktop processor certainly won’t be cheap. Then again, it is an unlocked chip aimed at enthusiasts.
via Tech Radar
