Intel is preparing to launch its next-generation desktop platform codenamed Rocket Lake-S. According to the presentation held by Intel today in Shenzen, China, we have official information regarding some of the platform features that Raptor Lake is bringing. Starting with memory support, Raptor Lake is still carrying the transitional DDR4 and DDR5 support, as the full swing towards DDR5 is still in progress. Unlike the previous generation Alder Lake, which brought DDR5-4800 support, Raptor Lake's integrated memory controller can drive DDR5 modules with a 5600 MT/s configuration. As DDR4 support remains, it is limited to 3200 MT/s speed.

Interesting information from the leaked slide points out that support for CPU-attached NVMe storage remains PCIe Gen4. While AMD will provide an AM5 socket with CPU-attached NMVe storage on PCIe Gen5 protocol, Intel is taking a step back and holding on to Gen4. The CPU is outputting 16 PCIe Gen5 lanes on its own. Motherboard vendors for the upcoming 700-series boards for Raptor Lake can still provide a PCIe Gen5 NVMe slot; however, it will have to subtract eight Gen5 lanes from the PCI Express Graphics (PEG) slot and route them to NVMe storage. As our testing shows, this will affect GPU's performance by a few percent. AMD's upcoming AM5 platform has no such issues, as the CPU provides both the PEG and CPU-attached NVMe storage with sufficient PCIe Gen5 bandwidth.

AMD is preparing to update its mobile sector with the latest IP in the form of Zen4 CPU cores and RDNA3 graphics. According to Red Gaming Tech, we have specifications of upcoming processor families. First, we have AMD Dragon Range mobile processors representing a downsized Raphael design for laptops. Carrying Zen4 CPU cores and RDNA2 integrated graphics, these processors are meant to power high-performance laptops with up to 16 cores and 32 threads. Being a direct competitor to Intel's Alder Lake-HX, these processors also carry an interesting naming convention. The available SKUs include AMD Ryzen 5 7600HX, Ryzen 7 7800HX, Ryzen 9 7900HX, and Ryzen 9 7980HX design with a massive 16-core configuration. These CPUs are envisioned to run along with more powerful dedicated graphics, with clock speeds of 4.8-5.0+ GHz.

Next, we have AMD Phoenix processors, which take Dragon Range's design to a higher level thanks to the newer graphics IP. Having Zen4 cores, Phoenix processors carry upgraded RDNA3 graphics chips to provide a performance level similar to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 Max-Q SKU, all in one package. These APUs will come in four initial configurations: Ryzen 5 7600HS, Ryzen 7 7800HS, Ryzen 9 7900HS, and Ryzen 9 7980HS. While maxing out at eight cores, these APUs will compensate with additional GPU compute units with a modular chiplet design. AMD Phoenix is set to become AMD's first chiplet design launching for the laptop market, and we can expect more details as we approach the launch date.

Axiomtek is pleased to introduce the MANO560, an industrial Mini-ITX motherboard featuring the LGA1700 socket for the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processor (codename: Alder Lake S) to boost the performance of AI and IoT applications.

The industrial Mini-ITX motherboard MANO560 is based on the new Intel H610 chipset and features scalable CPU options with the 12th Gen Intel Core i9/i7/i5/i3, Intel Pentium Gold or Intel Celeron processors. While the high performance is assisted by the two DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM with up to 64 GB of memory, it is equipped with one M.2 Key E 2230 for wireless module and one M.2 Key B in which the user can choose between the PCIe x2 signal, the USB 3.2 Gen1 for 3042/3052 5G module or SATA interface for 2242 SSD, making the embedded board much more flexible. Besides, it provides a full-size mini PCIe for wireless modules and a PCIe x16 for graphics cards.

Just hours ago a CPU-Z screenshot of an Intel Raptor Lake ES CPU appeared and the same CPU now appears to have been put through a full battery of benchmark tests, courtesy of Expreview. This upcoming 13th gen Core CPU from Intel is limited to a maximum clock speed of 3.8 GHz and as such, was tested against a Core i9-12900K that was clocked at the same speed, for a fair comparison. Both CPUs were used with an unknown Z690 motherboard, 32 GB of DDR5 5200 MHz memory with unknown timings and a GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics card. According to Expreview, the 13th gen CPU is on average around 20 percent faster than the 12th gen CPU, although the extra eight E-Cores might have something to do with that in certain benchmarks.

In Sisoft Sandra 2021 the ES sample is as much as 51.5 percent faster in the double precision floating point test, which is the extreme outlier, but it's ahead by around 15-25 percent in most of the other tests. In several other tests, it's ahead by anything from as little as less than three percent to as much as 25 percent, with more multithreaded types of benchmarks seeing the largest gains, as expected. However, in some of the single threaded tests, Alder Lake is edging out Raptor Lake by 10 percent or more, for example in Pov-Ray and Cinebench. Most of the game tests favour Intel's 12th gen over the 13th gen ES sample, although it's possible that the limited clock speeds are holding back the Raptor Lake CPU. The two are either neck in neck or Alder Lake being ahead with anything from a couple of percent to almost nine percent. Keep in mind that it's still early days and everything from UEFI support to drivers will be improved before Raptor Lake launches later this year. There's also the limited clock speed which is likely to play a significant role in the final performance as well, but this does at least provide a first taste of what's to come. Head over to Expreview for their full set of benchmarks.

One of the biggest dividends of the Arc discrete graphics lineup for Intel is getting to use its own GPUs in its NUC desktops. The next-generation NUC 12 "Serpent Canyon" desktop sees the 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" quad-core + RTX 2060 "Turing" combination replaced by advanced 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" 6P+8E processor, and the Arc "Alchemist" A770M discrete GPU. Intel's choice of mobile versions of "Alchemist" and "Alder Lake" may have to do with not just lower TDP, but possibly also an implementation of the Intel Deep Link feature.

The A770M maxes out the 6 nm ACM-G11 silicon, packing 32 Xe Cores (512 execution units, or 4,096 unified shaders), and has 16 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 memory. When paired with the 14-core "Alder Lake-H" processor, the duo could make for a formidable performance-gaming and creator machine. "Serpent Canyon" also sees the integration of Thunderbolt 4, SDXC UHS-II, Wi-Fi 6E, and 2.5 GbE interfaces, along with a number of USB 3.2 ports. Although its marketing images are leaked to the web on Chinese social media, there's no release date for the thing yet, but it could be just around the corner.

Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT), usually reserved for workstation and enterprise applications, is due for an update, and the company is readying an entire family of updated products. Today, we found a leak of what appears to be an Intel Sapphire Rapids design made for desktops. Called Xeon W5-3433, the CPU appears in the SiSoftware Sandra benchmark database. It carries a configuration of 16 cores and 32 threads and is equipped with 32 MB of L2 cache and 45 MB of L3 cache. Having 2 MB of L2 cache per core suggests that the design is not an Alder Lake variation. This specific SKU is clocked at 1.99 GHz, meaning an early engineering sample.

The Sapphire Rapids HEDT platform is codenamed FishHawk Falls. Intel is supposed to offer Alder Lake-X processors with higher core counts and the FishHawk Falls. Both will be running on the same W790 chipset; however, the Sapphire Rapids implementation will carry more cores in a Xeon package designed for professionals. There was an Ice Lake-X Xeon processor called Xeon W-3335 with 16 cores and 32 threads, meaning that the leaked Xeon W5-3433 is its direct successor.

Intel is preparing to launch its 13th generation of desktop processors codenamed Raptor Lake. Succeeding Alder Lake, the 13th gen design will implement up to eight P-cores with 16 E-cores manufactured on Intel's improved 7+ technology node. Today, we got a performance preview from SiSoftware that has collected SiSoftware Sandra database scores of Intel Core i9-13900 Raptor Lake-S processor. They present an overview of a few benchmarks. Firstly, the SoC features 36 MB of unified L3 cache versus 30 MB in Alder Lake. With DDR5 memory running up to 5600 MT/s and PCIe 5.0, the SoC features the latest IO and memory standards. The big P-cores now lack AVX-512 and feature 2 MB of L2 cache per core. We see 4 MB of L2 cache for a cluster of small E-cores. An exciting addition to E-cores is the AVX/AVX2 support, which is a first for Atom cores.

Regarding testing, the author has collected a few tests that seemed appropriate to compare to the equivalent Alder Lake model. Starting with ALU/FPU tests that benchmark basic arithmetic tasks, Raptor Lake delivered 33% to 50% improvement over Alder Lake. The Raptor Lake design achieved this with 3.7 GHz P-Core and 2.76 GHz E-Core frequency. In vectorized and SIMD tests, the 13th gen design showed only 5% to 8% improvement over the previous generation. For more benchmarks and accurate results, we have to wait for TechPowerUp's test, which will be coming on the release day.

DDR5 memory pricing has been declining faster than expected, with average pricing for modules based on the latest standard dropping by as much as 20% in a month's time. As reported by ComputerBase, pricing for 1 GB of DDR5 has fallen from around €15 by the end of 2021 down to around €5/GB at time of writing. At current pricing, an entry-level, 32 GB DDR5 kit DDR5-4800 memory (JEDEC standard) has fallen from a high of €430 down to a much more palatable €154.

The price decline comes as good news for anyone aiming to upgrade their PC in wake of AMD's Socket AM5 launch for its Zen 4 architecture, which the company has already confirmed will only support the latest RAM standard. AMD itself must be riding the sea of relief, as high DDR5 pricing could significantly shape the company's next-gen platform's value compared to arch-rival Intel, which already offers DDR4 and DDR5 support with its Alder Lake chips. Expectations place the same memory support for the next-gen Raptor Lake platform. Prices for DDR4 memory seem to have hit a bottom, however, as pricing hasn't significantly moved in around six months. Like with all new technologies, expect the price difference to eventually change in favor of DDR5 memory, as manufacturers adjust their outputs towards adoption.

Thermal Grizzly has developed a new Contact Frame designed specifically to fix bending issues present with Intel's latest 12th Gen, Alder Lake CPUs. Developed in partnership with overclocking extraordinaire Der8auer, the new Contact Frame promises to lower operating temperatures on Intel's Alder Lake. According to the company, this improvement is achieved by fixing that platform's independent loading mechanism (ILM), which has been proven to slightly deflect the integrated heatspreader (IHS), reducing its heat transfer capability.

As tested by Igor's Lab, the new contact frame for LGA 1700 reduced the operating temperature of Intel's Core i9-12900K by as much as 10.19 °C - from 70.48 °C without the Contact Frame and towards 60.29 °C after it was installed. The CPU was configured to run popular stress test Prime95, with Small FFT at a fixed 5 GHz frequency on its P-cores. The processor's E-cores were deactivated so as not to compromise the results, while the memory subsystem was run at DDR5-7000. Thermal Grizzly's Contact Frame isn't the only product in this category, and the company is introducing their product at €39.90 for the German and European markets (~$36). Enthusiasts have likely spent more in cooling upgrades that delivered a lesser final operating temperature improvement.

The relatively new handheld gaming console company AYN has recently teased what they claim to be 'The Most Affordable Windows Handhelds Ever Created' with the AYN Loki series. The company has previously released the ARM-based Odin handheld that could run Android and Windows for ARM. The Loki is the company's first Windows handheld launching with five initial variants including a single entry-level Loki Mini model featuring an unspecified Alder Lake U processor and 64 GB of storage costing 299 USD. The next three models each feature the AMD Ryzen 6600U paired with between 64 GB and 512 GB storage coming in at 499 USD to 699 USD. The AYN Loki MAX will feature an AMD Ryzen 6800U paired with 512 GB of storage costing 799 USD.

Back in January, we heard the first reports of Intel significantly increasing the on-die cache sizes on its 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake-S" desktop processor, with the sum total of L2 and L3 caches on the silicon being 68 MB. A CPU-Z screenshot from the same source as the January story, confirmed the cache sizes. The "Raptor Lake-S" die in its full configuration features eight "Raptor Cove" performance cores (P-cores), and sixteen "Gracemont" efficiency cores (E-cores), making it a 24-core/32-thread chip.

Each "Raptor Cove" P-core features 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache even in its client variant, as previously reported, which is an increase from the 1.25 MB L2 cache of the "Golden Cove" P-cores on "Alder Lake-S." The sixteen "Gracemont" E-cores are spread across four E-core clusters, just like the eight E-cores of "Alder Lake-S" are spread across two such clusters. The four cores in each cluster share an L2 cache. Intel has doubled the size of this L2 cache from 2 MB on "Alder Lake" chips, up to 4 MB. The shared L3 cache on the silicon has increased in size to 36 MB. Eight P-cores with 2 MB each, and four E-core clusters with 4 MB, each, total 32 MB of L2 cache. Add this to 36 MB of L3 cache, and you get 68 MB of L2+L3 cache. Intel is expected to debut "Raptor Lake" in the second half of 2022 alongside the 700-series chipset, and backwards compatibility with 600-series chipset. It could go down as Intel's last client processor built on a monolithic silicon.

AMD has been on a roll ever since it launched its first generation Zen core, which brought a much-needed performance and efficiency boost that finally brought a level of competitiveness against Intel's offerings. Years of iterations and design improvements have only increased AMD's value proposition towards consumers and businesses. A testament to that fact is that AMD in Q1 2022 hit its largest market share in history.

According to market analysis firm Mercury Research, AMD's offerings have continued to claw back market share from Intel, despite its strong recovery in performance and efficiency metrics following the debut of the 12th Gen Intel CPU family, Alder Lake. The firm places AMD's overall x86 market share for 1Q 2022 (including IoT and SoCs such as the ones found in the latest gaming consoles) at a record-breaking 27.7%, up 2.1% QoQ and a staggering 7% YoY. The server side of the equation has seen less stellar gains, but still increased by 0.9% QoQ, and 2.7% YoY, achieving a high of 11.6% share against Intel's decades-long market stranglehold.

Intel today debuted the 12th Gen Core HX "Alder Lake" processors for high-end gaming notebooks and mobile workstations. These processors are designed to bring desktop-class performance to the mobile segment, and debut the "Alder Lake" C0 silicon in a mobile package. Until now, the fastest Core "Alder Lake" mobile processor was based on a silicon that physically had 6 performance cores (P-cores), and 8 efficiency cores (E-cores). The HX-series sees the desktop C0 silicon, with its 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores, and 30 MB of L3 cache, in the mobile form factor.

This also brings PCI-Express 5.0 x16 PEG connectivity for discrete graphics cards, 8-lane DMI 4.0 chipset bus, and a mobile variant of the Z690 chipset, which can put out two M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots in addition to the one from the processor die. The additional PCIe budget should allow up to two discrete Thunderbolt 4 controllers. Memory support includes dual-channel (4 sub-channel) DDR5-4800, dual-channel DDR4-3200, and LPDDR4-4267. Certain models even have ECC memory support, targeted at mobile workstations. Intel is using the highest bins of the C0 die, coupled with some aggressive power-management, to achieve processor base power (PBP) of 55 W (10 W lower than the 65 W PBP of the desktop Core i9-12900). The maximum turbo power value for all SKUs is set at 154 W. All processor models in the Core HX series will come with memory overclocking support, some even with CPU overclocking support.

EK, the premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a new Intel LGA 1700 socket-based monoblock belonging to the Quantum Line of products, the EK-Quantum Momentum² Aorus Z690 Master D-RGB - Plexi. This monoblock is engineered specifically for the AORUS MASTER Z690 motherboard from Aorus. The addressable D-RGB LED in the monoblock is compatible with Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 control and offers a full lighting customization experience for every single diode at any given time. This monoblock is EK-Matrix7 compatible.

This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for Intel 12th generation Alter Lake processors and the monoblock is compatible with the LGA 1700 socketed Aorus Z690 Master motherboard. This monoblock features a special metal cover over the I/O section, which is used to mount the stock I/O cover over it. Thus not losing the factory-intended RGB lighting of the motherboard.

Taiwanese company Thermalright has recently launched the LGA1700-BCF (Bending Corrector Frame) to mitigate the risk of bending and warping with 12th Generation Intel Alder Lake processors. Intel has previously disclosed that their Alder Lake processors could exhibit mild warping as a result of changes to the integrated heatspreader (IHS) design but that the processors still performed within specification. This new product from Thermalright aims to prevent this warping despite Intel advising that any 3rd party modifications could void the warranty for Alder Lake processors. The Thermalright LGA1700-BCF is now available to purchase for 39 RMB (6 USD) in red and silver color options with support for H610, B660, and Z690 motherboards.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, unveils the brand-new Z690A-SILVER motherboard. Designed to unleash the maximum potential of Intel Alder Lake Z690 chipset, the Z690A-SILVER motherboard brings shiny new features to your desktop, packed with raw unhindered potential.

PCIe 5.0 takes center stage on the Z690A-SILVER motherboard, with data transfer rates reaching 128 Gb/s. Extract maximum performance from the latest graphics cards with PCIe 5.0 backed by Intel's all-powerful 12th gen processors. Take your gaming to the next level with BIOSTAR's all new Z690A-SILVER motherboard. The Z690A-SILVER motherboard supports up to 4 DIMMs of high-speed DDR4 RAMs capable of overclocking numbers exceeding 5000+MHz (O.C). Furthermore, features like PCIe M.2 4.0, USB 3.2 GEN2 TYPE-A, and C bring excellent utility for users.

Enthused with its IPC leadership, Intel is possibly planning a return to the high-end desktop (HEDT) market segment, with the "Alder Lake-X" line of processors, according to a Tom's Hardware report citing a curious-looking addition to an AIDA64 beta change-log. The exact nature of "Alder Lake-X" (ADL-X) still remains a mystery—one theory holds that ADL-X could be a consumer variant of the "Sapphire Rapids" microarchitecture, much like how the 10th Gen Core "Cascade Lake-X" was to "Cascade Lake," a server processor microarchitecture. Given that Intel is calling it "Alder Lake-X" and not "Sapphire Rapids-X," it could even be a whole new client-specific silicon. What's the difference between the two? It's all in the cores.

While both "Alder Lake" and "Sapphire Rapids" come with "Golden Cove" performance cores (P-cores), they use variants of it. Alder Lake has the client-specific variant with 1.25 MB L2 cache, a lighter client-relevant ISA, and other optimizations that enable it to run at higher clock speeds. Sapphire Rapids, on the other hand, will use a server-specific variant of "Golden Cove" that's optimized for the Mesh interconnect, has 2 MB of L2 cache, a server/HPC-relevant ISA, and a propensity to run at lower clock speeds, to support the silicon's overall TDP and high CPU core-count.

Intel is preparing to debut the Arc "Alchemist" line of graphics processors with a mobile-first approach, where the company leverages its bulletproof relations with notebook manufacturers to use its discrete mobile GPUs to go with their 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processors. These will be launch in two tranches, with the first round expected as early as today (March 30), according to a VideoCardz report citing a leaked company slide. The series will debut with the Arc 3 series of entry-level discrete GPUs, before moving onto the mid-range Arc 5 and premium Arc 7 series "early summer" (we read that as May-June, 2022).

The entire lineup of Arc "Alchemist" is based on two ASICs, the smaller one is the ACM-G11, or DG2-128; while the larger one is the ACM-G10, or DG2-512. The former comes with 128 execution units (EU), while the larger one has 512 EU. The Arc 3 series, consisting of the A350M and A370M, come with 96 and 128 EU (768 and 1,024 unified shaders), respectively, The mid-range Arc A550M is based on the lowest trim of the DG2-512, with half its EU count disabled (256 EU, or 2,048 shaders). The Arc A730M has three-fourths of the EU count enabled, while the A770M maxes it out.

Intel started selling its new flagship desktop processor, the special edition Core i9-12900KS, on Newegg for USD $799. Based on the highest bins of the "Alder Lake-S" C0 silicon, the chip has the same configuration as the i9-12900K, with 8 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 30 MB of L3 cache; but higher clock speeds. The chip offers maximum Turbo Boost frequencies of 5.50 GHz on the P-cores, compared to 5.20 GHz for the regular i9-12900K. The Newegg listing mentions the i9-12900KS to have the same power limits as the i9-12900K, with 125 W processor base power (PBP) and 241 W maximum turbo power (MTP), and not the previously reported 150 W PBP with 260 W MTP.

Update 20:50 UTC: And the listing on Newegg has vanished, which probably has to do with Intel's embargo ending only next week. Sales are supposedly starting not before April.

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of TechPowerUp GPU-Z, the graphics sub-system information and diagnostic utility. Version 2.45 introduces support for a number of new GPUs. On the NVIDIA side, we have the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 3060 Ti (GA103-based), RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, T1000 8 GB, T400, CMP 170HX, and A16. On the AMD side, we have the Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, RX 6800S, RX 6700S, RX 6850M XT, RX 6650M XT, W6400, "Barcelo" APU, "Rembrandt APU," and Valve Steam Deck GPU. Preliminary support is also added for Intel Arc "Alchemist" series. Memory size reporting of NVIDIA "Ampere" was improved. Also improved is support for Intel "Alder Lake" iGPUs, support for HBM and DDR4 memory on NVIDIA, and improved "GA106" transistor count.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.45

ARCTIC, a leading manufacturer of low-noise PC coolers and components, introduces today the Alpine 17 and Alpine 17 CO, a pair of compact air coolers designed exclusively for the Intel LGA1700 socket. With the release of its newest Alpine coolers, ARCTIC presents an affordable option for users looking to cool their Alder Lake processors. The successors to the Alpine 12 series retain its classic radial heatsink design but are specifically built for the LGA1700 socket.

The cooler's Y-shaped fin ensures optimal heat distribution in the heatsink, while heat dissipation is significantly enhanced by the Alpine 17's large surface area and high airflow rate. With a low installation height of only 68.2 mm, the Alpine 17 and Alpine 17 CO are ideal choices for most all-in-one systems as well as small cases (Mini-ITX, µATX etc.).

Intel's ambitious new flagship desktop processor, the Core i9-12900KS, started shipping to early customers before retail embargo. By this we don't mean enthusiasts with privileged ties to the company, but retailers. PC enthusiast DAGINATSUKO was able to purchase one online for roughly USD $790, before the store they purchased from took down the listing.

Pictures of the retail i9-12900KS reveal a darker-themed box than that of the i9-12900K, with "Special Edition" written on the front-face. The chip features an S-Spec code "SRLDD." We also learn a few interesting tidbits about the i9-12900KS from this source. Apparently, its processor base power (PBP) is set at 150 W, and its maximum turbo power (MTP) at 260 W. The standard i9-12900K comes with 125 W PBP and 241 W MTP. The increased power limits support a more aggressive boosting algorithm, with the maximum Turbo Boost clocks on the P-cores set at 5.50 GHz, compared to 5.20 GHz on the i9-12900K. The P-core base frequency is increased by 200 MHz, too, now at 3.40 GHz.

In addition to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which AMD claims to be the world's fastest gaming processor, AMD gave its desktop processor product-stack a major update, with as many as six other processor models spanning a wide range of price-points that help the company better compete with the bulk of the 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processor lineup. The new lineup sees the introduction of the Ryzen 7 5700X (not to be confused with the Ryzen 7 5700G). The 5700X is based on the same "Vermeer" multi-chip module (MCM) as the Ryzen 7 5800X, unlike the 5700G, which is a desktop APU based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. Both "Vermeer" and "Cezanne" are based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture.

The Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core/16-thread processor clocked at 3.40 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. Another key difference is its 65 W TDP, compared to 105 W of the 5800X, which could differentiate its boosting behavior and overclocking headroom compared to the 5800X. AMD is pricing the 5700X at USD $299 (MSRP), making it a competitor to the Intel Core i5-12600KF. Interestingly, the retail PIB (processor-in-box) package of the 5700X does not include a stock cooler despite its 65 W TDP. A 95 W-capable Wraith Spire wouldn't have hurt.

Less than 24 hours after Apple's launch event, the first Geekbench numbers for the new Apple M1 Ultra CPU are out and the numbers are interesting to say the least. For starters, the system the Geekbench numbers are from, is the top of the range 20 Core SKU with 128 GB of RAM. This helps us get some additional insight into Apple's new CPUs. As Apple didn't provide much in technical terms yesterday, nor on its website, we now know that the clock speed of the M1 Ultra is the same 3.2 GHz as the regular M1. It also appears that the CPU cache remains the same, even though Geekbench is only listing the cache of the efficiency cores for some reason.

Although Geekbench isn't a reliable cross-platform benchmark, we do at least get an idea of how the new SoC from Apple performs. The single core performance is more or less on par with the Apple M1 Max, but loses out quite easily to Intel's Alder Lake processors. However, once we move to the multi-threaded test, the M1 Ultra really shows what it's capable of. Surprisingly the performance scaling is almost linear with the double of performance CPU cores compared to the M1 Max, which suggests that Apple's multi-chip module design is extremely capable. The interesting thing will be to see how well this design scales for GPU intensive applications. Stepping outside of the Apple ecosystem, the M1 Ultra ends up somewhere around an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X in terms of multi-core performance. Scaling over some of the detailed tests aren't somewhere between 80-90 percent depending on the particular test compared to the M1 Max, if we compare to the faster results on Geekbench, which is still quite impressive considering we're looking at two M1 Max CPUs that are technically glued together.

ASRock Industrial launches a new range of industrial motherboards powered by 12th Gen Intel Core Processors (Alder Lake-S) with up to 16 cores and 24 threads, supporting the new Intel 600 Series W680, Q670, and H610 chipsets. Featuring high computing power with performance hybrid architecture and enhanced AI capabilities, rich IOs and expansions for up to quad displays 4K@60 Hz, USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbit/s), triple Intel 2.5 GbE LANs with real-time TSN, multi M.2 Key M, ECC memory, plus TPM 2.0, and wide voltage support. The new series covers comprehensive form factors, including industrial Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX motherboards for diverse applications, such as factory automation, kiosks, digital signage, smart cities, medical, and Edge AIoT applications.