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

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

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 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.

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