The top configuration of Intel’s next-generation Alder Lake-S Desktop CPU may have been found in the Geekbench database. The entrance was located by TUM_APISAK and it is an example of very old engineering with relatively low clock speeds, but many cores and threads.
Intel Alder Lake-S desktop CPU with 16 cores and 24 threads based on Golden Cove and Gracemont 10 nm cores
The Alder Lake-S Desktop Intel 12th Generation CPU line will feature a combination of Golden Cove and Gracemont cores on the same chip. This specific configuration has a total of 16 cores and 24 threads. The actual partitioning of the cores consists of 8 Golden Cove cores with 16 threads and 8 Gracemont cores with 8 threads.
Other details that Geekbench mentions is that the chip is part of the ‘GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 151 Stepping 0’. The Intel Alder Lake-S CPU appears to have a clock speed of 1.40 GHz, but it appears that clock speeds are erroneously detected here with a reported maximum clock speed of 17.6 GHz. The CPU also has 30 MB of L3 cache and 12.5 MB of L2 cache. The chip was tested on the Intel Alder Lake-S ADP-S DDR4 CRB internal platform which should consist of a motherboard with an LGA 1700 socket and was equipped with 16 GB of memory, although we cannot confirm now whether it was DDR4 or DDR5.
Moving on to performance, considering that this is one of the first ES chips with very low clock speeds, the Intel Rocket Lake Desktop CPU scored 996 points on the single-core and 6931 points on the multi-core bench. It’s nothing to be excited about, but considering the clock speeds, that was to be expected. As soon as the final chips get close to launch, we will probably see a huge improvement in performance, but now, all we can see is that Intel has really started preparing its 12th generation core family for launch in late 2021.
Here is everything we know about the next-generation Alder Lake CPU family
Alder Lake CPUs will not only be the first desktop processor family to feature a 10nm process node, but will also feature a new design methodology. As far as we know, Intel plans to include a mix of CPU cores based on different IPs. Alder Lake CPUs will come with standard high-performance ‘Cove’ cores and smaller, yet efficient ‘Atom’ cores. This big.SMALL design methodology has been incorporated into smartphones for some time, but Alder Lake will be the first time that we will see it in action in the high performance segment.
We have no specification of which generation of ‘Cove’ or ‘Atom’ architecture Intel plans to use for its Alder Lake CPUs, but its roadmap points to the availability of Golden Cove and Gracemont architectures by 2021. It is possible that we would see these cores in action first on the desktop CPU platform, but would also be used in a Lakefield successor. You can learn more about the various Alder Lake SKU configurations here and here.
The following are some of the updates you should expect from Intel’s 2021 architecture line:
Intel Golden Cove (Core) architecture:
- Improve single-thread performance (IPC)
- Improve artificial intelligence (AI) performance
- Improve network performance / 5G
- Enhanced security features
Intel Gracemont Architecture (Atom):
- Improve single-thread performance (IPC)
- Improve frequency (clock speeds)
- Improve vector performance
In addition to the chips, the LGA 1700 platform features the latest I / O technology, such as support for DDR5 memory, PCIe 5.0 and new Thunderbolt / WiFi features. Although the chip design methodology is nothing new, as we have seen several SOCs with a similar core hierarchy, it would definitely be interesting to see similar output on a high-performance desktop CPU line.
Intel Desktop CPU Generation Comparison:
| Intel CPU family | Processor Processor | Processor cores (max) | TDPs | Platform Chipset | Platform | Memory support | PCIe support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge (2nd generation) | 32nm | 4/8 | 35-95W | 6 series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 2.0 | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge (3rd generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-77W | 7-Series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2012 |
| Haswell (4th generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-84W | 8-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2013-2014 |
| Broadwell (5th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 65-65W | 9-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Skylake (6th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 100-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Lake Kaby (7th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 200 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (8th generation) | 14nm | 6/12 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (9th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2018 |
| Comet Lake (10th generation) | 14nm | 10/20 | 35-125W | 400-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake (11th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | TBA | 500-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 4.0 | 2021 |
| Lago Alder (12th generation) | 10nm? | 16/24? | TBA | 600 Series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2021 |
| Meteoro Lake (13th generation) | 7nm? | TBA | TBA | 700 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2022? |
| Lunar Lake (14th generation) | TBA | TBA | TBA | 800 series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2023? |