With everyone busy enjoying the announcements of new shiny toys at CES, Intel has taken the opportunity to jack up the prices on its older 12th Gen Core processors by around 10 percent. This wasn't entirely unexpected though, as Intel announced back in June of last year that it was going to increase the MSRP of its 12th Gen Core processors. The price increase affects different SKUs wildly differently, as the Core i9-12900K for example, is seeing a US$59 price increase and its new MSRP is now US$648, which is more than the Core i9-13900K which has an MSRP of US$589. On the other hand, the Core i3-12100 only gets a $12 price increase, which puts its new MSRP at US$134, which places it in the same price bracket as the Core i3-13100.

This is a very unusual move by Intel and it affects all of its 12th Gen Core desktop processors and possibly some other SKUs as well. Considering the 13th Gen Core parts are either priced cheaper or fall in the same price bracket, it's hard to see how Intel is going to see any sales of its older 12th Gen Core processors, especially as the two share the same socket. It's highly unlikely that this move will affect its shareholders in a positive way either, as Intel is likely to see lower sales with this price increase of its previous generation of processors, which in turn will result in even lower revenue. That said, it's unclear if this will affect retail pricing or not, as it's possible that many stores won't replenish their stock of 12th Gen Core CPUs once their current stock sells out.

With only a couple of days to go until the AMD RX 7900-series benchmarks go live, some alleged benchmarks from both the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT have leaked on Twitter. The two cards are being compared to a NVIDIA RTX 4080 card in no less than seven different game titles, all running at 4K resolution. The games are God of War, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watchdogs Legion, Red Dead Redemption 2, Doom Eternal and Horizon Zero Dawn. The cards were tested on a system with a Core i9-12900K CPU which was paired with 32 GB of RAM of unknown type.

It's too early to draw any real conclusions from this test, but in general, the RX 7900 XTX comes out on top, ahead of the RTX 4080, so no surprises here. The RX 7900 XT is either tied with the RTX 4080 or a fair bit slower, with the exception being Red Dead Redemption 2, where the RTX 4080 is the slowest card, although it also appears to have some issues, since the one percent lows are hitting 2 FPS. Soon, the reviews will be out and everything will become more clear, but it appears that AMD's RX 7900 XTX will give NVIDIA's RTX 4080 a run for its money, if these benchmarks are anything to go by.

Update Dec 11th: The original tweet has been removed, for unknown reasons. It could be because the numbers were fake, or because they were in breach of AMD's NDA.

The first reliable benchmark figures of AMD's Ryzen 7000-series CPUs have arrived, courtesy of SiSoftware. The benchmark suite software developer has released benchmark figures for the Ryzen 5 7600X and Ryzen 9 7950X. Keep in mind that these benchmarks are limited to the different tests in SiSoftware Sandra. Also note that the graphs for the Ryzen 5 7600X have typos, as the SiSoftware wrote Ryzen 5 7760X instead of 7600X and the Core i5-12600K is listed as a Core i7 CPU. Starting with the 7600X, the CPU appears to perform similar to, or slightly slower than the Intel Core i5-12600K in the arithmetic tests. On the other hand, it handily crushes the older Ryzen 5 5600X in every test here, by somewhere between 17 and 36 percent depending on the test.

Moving on to the vector SIMD tests, AMD's Zen 4 architecture shows much greater performance improvements, beating the Intel Core i5-12600K in all but one of the tests, where it loses by a fairly small margin. Here it beats the Ryzen 5 5600X by anything from 28 to a massive 86 percent. Where AMD's Zen 4 architecture really kicks things up a notch is in the image processing test, at least compared to the Zen 3 architecture, thanks to its AVX512 capabilities. As such, it's over twice as fast in many of the tests, but it still loses out in half of the tests to Intel's Core i5-12600K. AMD has also improved the inter-thread/core latency in the same module, by a not insignificant amount. Where the Ryzen 5 7600X doesn't fare so well is when it comes to performance vs. power, largely due to the fact that AMD moved the TDP from 65 to 105 W, but it still offers better performance per Watt than Intel's current models.

Update 17:31 UTC: Updated with the Ryzen 7 7700X results.

Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" is shaping up to be another leadership desktop processor lineup, with an engineering sample clocking significant increases in gaming minimum framerates over the preceding 12th Gen Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake." Extreme Player, a tech-blogger on Chinese video streaming site Bilibili, posted a comprehensive gaming performance review of an i9-13900K engineering sample covering eight games across three resolutions, comparing it with a retail i9-12900KF. The games include CS:GO, Final Fantasy IX: Endwalker, PUBG, Forza Horizon 5, Far Cry 6, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, and the synthetic benchmark 3DMark. Both processors were tested with a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card, 32 GB of DDR5-6400 memory, and a 1.5 kW power supply.

The i9-13900K ES is shown posting performance leads ranging wildly between 1% to 2% in the graphics tests of 3DMark, but an incredible 36% to 38% gain in the CPU-intensive tests of the suite. This is explained not just by increased per-core performance of both the P-cores and E-cores, but also the addition of 8 more E-cores. Although the same "Gracemont" E-cores are used in "Raptor Lake," the L2 cache size per E-core cluster has been doubled in size. Horizon Zero Dawn sees -0.7% to 10.98% increase in frame rates. There are some anomalous 70% frame-rate increases in RDR2, discounting which, we still see a 2-9% increase. FC6 posts modest 2.4% increases. Forza Horizon 5, PUBG, Monster Hunter Rise, and FF IX, each report significant increases in minimum framerates, well above 20%.

With the XMG STUDIO, XMG presents a desktop PC specially tailored to the needs of creative professionals working with audio and video - designed and thoroughly tested for flawless performance with common software and hardware peripherals. Current high-end CPUs from Intel up to the Core i9-12900K and graphics cards up to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 may be configured as needed. The PC is optimized for excellent airflow and quiet operation even under high load. To keep the workflow free of any distractions, the XMG STUDIO lacks any additional decorative elements such as RGB LEDs.

At launch, the XMG STUDIO exclusively features Intel 12th gen Core processors, ranging from the Core i5-12600K in the base configuration up to the Core i9-12900K in the high-end version. An Asus Prime Z690-P D4 is used as the motherboard - which was thoroughly tested for compatibility with various hardware and software for audio and video editing.

Eurocom is launching the 15.6" Raptor X15 Mobile Supercomputer class laptop powered by the socket LGA1700 Intel 12th generation desktop processors. Supercharged by the latest generation H670 Intel chipset, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics, up to 24 TB of storage and 64 GB of DDR4-3200 memory, the Raptor X15 delivers an impressive level of performance in a fully upgradeable Mobile Supercomputer. The EUROCOM Raptor X15 supports the Intel Socket LGA1700 and Intel H670 Chipset, enabling the fastest DDR4 memory and PCIe 4.0 for NVMe and graphics.

Mark BialicThe EUROCOM Raptor X15 combines Intel 12th generation socket desktop processors, up to 12900K, with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB DDR6 graphics in a small 15.6" laptop form factor that weighs just 2.6 kg yet it holds 24 TB of storage with three physical drives is a remarkable feat that our customers are crazy about. The EUROCOM Raptor X15 truly is King of the Hill in terms of user customization, user upgradeability, performance and mobility!

XanxoGaming has finally released its complete set of benchmarks for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and it's been tested against an Intel Core i9-12900KF. This time both platforms are tested using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and four times 8 GB of 3200 MHz CL14 DDR4 memory. The only difference appears to be the OS drive, motherboard and cooling, although both systems rely on a 360 mm AIO cooler. Both systems were running Windows 10 21H2. The site has a full breakdown of the components used for those interested in the exact details.

The two platforms were tested in 11 different games at 720p and 1080p. To spoil the excitement, it's a dead race between the two CPUs in most games at 1080p, with Intel being ahead by about 1-3 FPS in the games where AMD loses out. However, in the games AMD takes the lead, it's by a good 10 FPS or more, with games like the Witcher 3 and Final Fantasy XV seeing an advantage of 40-50 FPS. AMD often has an advantage when it comes to the one percent low numbers, even when Intel is ahead when it comes to the average FPS, but this doesn't apply to all of the games. It's worth keeping in mind that the Intel CPU should gain extra performance when paired with DDR5 memory in some of these games, but we'll have to wait for more reviews to see by how much. The benchmarks displayed are mostly the games TPU normally tests with, but aren't the entirety of games tested by XanxoGaming.

XanxoGaming has now posted its first game benchmark with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, paired with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition. They put it up against an Intel Core i9-12900KS and Core i9-12900K. However, as you might have deduced from the headline of this news post, so far, they've only run a single game, but are promising to deliver more results shortly. That single game so far is Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 720p and using low settings, which means that this is a far cry from a real world scenario, but it does at least give a first taste of what's to come. For whatever reason, the Core i9 systems are using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and the CPUs are paired with DDR5 memory rated at 4800 MHz CAS 40. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D has been given another pair of 8 GB modules, so it's now using dual rank memory, but still at 3200 MHz and CAS 14.

In their test, the Core i9-12900K averages around 190 FPS, which they place as their baseline. The Core i9-12900KS manages around 200 FPS, or a bit over a five percent improvement. These benchmark numbers are provided by CapFrameX that claims that due to the low resolution used, the GPU doesn't really matter and although it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, it's very close. So what about the Ryzen 7 5800X3D? Well, it gets an average FPS number of 231, which is a bit odd, since the Intel CPU benchmarks are rounded and the AMD ones are not. Regardless, that's over a 20 percent increase over the Core i9-12900K and over 15 percent of the Core i9-12900KS. XanxoGaming is promising more benchmarks and those will be delivered at 1080p at Ultra settings according to the publication. In other words, this is still not what most of us have been waiting for.

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.

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.

It will be an unexpectedly busy March for AMD, with the company launching three distinct products across its processor lines. The first one, which we reported earlier this morning, speaks of a late-March availability of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor, which AMD claims offers gaming performance on par with the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake." It turns out, there are two more surprises.

Apparently the company is ready with Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 series workstation processors. Designed for Socket sWRX8 motherboards based on the only chipset option available—the AMD WRX80, these are the first Threadripper products based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and feature 8-channel DDR4 memory, and up to 128 PCI-Express Gen4 lanes for workstation connectivity. Unfortunately, you can't buy one of these in the retail channel, as AMD is making them OEM-only. The first pre-built workstations will arrive as early as next week (March 8). At this point we still don't know if these chips use the newer "Zen 3" CCD with 3D Vertical Cache, or the conventional "Zen 3" CCD with 32 MB planar L3 cache.

RockitCool is a new entrant towards the deliding and IHS replacement game, and the company is offering new delid kits that allow users to replace the Integrated Heatspreader (IHS) on their CPUs in an attempt to achieve better operating temperatures - and potentially improve performance. Considered by some to be one of the most daring quests towards extracting the most performance possible from a given chip, the deliding process is, however, not without its dangers, and will void CPU warranties irrespective of the tool - or care - employed in the operation.

RockItCool's website sprung up earlier this year, and the website doesn't count with many user reviews - but those that are there seem to be glowing. The company specializes in providing complete delid and pure-copper IHS replacement kits, taking advantage of copper's higher thermal conductivity as a way to increase the amount of heat that can be pulled away from the CPU - improving its operating temperatures and power profiles. The copper IHS themselves have guidance markings to ease concerns regarding the application of liquid metal itself, which is a particularly risky substance to misapply around electrical circuitry.

GIGABYTE over the last week posted UEFI firmware updates for its Socket AM4 motherboards that add support for the upcoming AMD Ryzen 5800X3D processor. Released for motherboards across its AMD 400-series and 500-series lineups; the updates pack AGESA ComboPI V2 1.2.0.6 Patch-b microcode. Another key feature of these updates are that they re-introduce the "Max CPU Boost Clock Override" toggle, which appears when a Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processor is installed.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is an 8-core/16-thread processor based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and packs the AMD 3D Vertical Cache (3DV Cache) technology, featuring 100 MB of Total Cache (AMD jargon for the sum of all L2 + L3 cache). The company claims gaming performance on par with the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake" processor. The re-introduction of the Boost Frequency overrides signal that the company wants enthusiasts to go to town with overclocking, making this a possible response to the i9-12900KS gaming performance, at a lower price-point.

3DMark Fire Strike Hall of Fame is where overclockers submit their best hardware benchmark trials and try to beat the very best. For years, one record managed to hold, and today it just got defeated. According to an extreme overclocker called "biso biso" from South Korea and a part of the EVGA OC team, the top spot now belongs to the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card. The previous 3DMark Fire Strike world record was set on April 22nd in 2020, when Vince Lucido, also known as K|NGP|N, set a record with four-way SLI of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPUs. However, that record is old news since January 27th, when biso biso set the history with AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU.

The overclocker scored 62389 points, just 1,183 more from the previous record. He pushed the Navi 21 XTX silicon that powers the Radeon RX 6900 XT card to an impressive 3,147 MHz. Paired with a GPU memory clock of 2370 MHz, the GPU was probably LN2 cooled to achieve these results. The overclocker used EVGA's Z690 DARK KINGPIN motherboard with Intel Core i9-12900K processor as a platform of choice to achieve this record. You can check it out on the 3DMark Fire Strike Hall of Fame website to see yourself.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is thrilled to announce the achievement of a new overclocking world record for fastest memory frequency at DDR5-8888 CL88-88-88-88, in cooperation with ASUS. This amazing frequency speed was achieved by the extreme overclocker "lupin_no_musume" with G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5 memory, ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 APEX motherboard, and Intel Core i9-12900K processor. To see the moment this amazing overclocking world record was set, please click the following video link: https://youtu.be/OgQFbUOs6i8

DDR5-8888 CL88-88-88-88 - Pushing the Speed to the Limit
At the dawn of the DDR5 era, G.SKILL and ASUS have been constantly exploring the memory speed limitations of the latest Intel Z690 platform. Surpassing the previous DDR5-8704 world record in November 2021, a new memory frequency world record is achieved at DDR5-8888 under liquid nitrogen extreme cooling. The memory speed has been validated by CPU-Z. Please refer to the screenshot and validation link below: https://valid.x86.fr/qgvylc

According to the latest round of rumors coming from tech media VideoCardz, Intel could be preparing an answer to AMD's 3D V-cache in the form of... pre-binned Core i9-12900KS? As per the report, Intel could be making a pre-binned, pre-overclocked Core i9-12900KS processor with an all-core turbo boost frequency of 5.2 GHz. This alleged clock speed will push the processor to some fantastic heights and increase the overall performance of the regular Core i9-12900K processor. With AMD's Ryzen processors with 3D V-cache incoming, Intel has prepared this solution to keep up with the increasing pressure from AMD.

So far, we don't know the specific requirements for Core i9-12900KS to reach 5.2 GHz. However, we assume that Voltage needs a big boost, making cooling and power supply requirements increase. This special edition Alder Lake design should launch around the same time frame that AMD reveals its 3D V-cache enabled Ryzen processors, so Intel doesn't let AMD steal the performance crown.

According to some testing performed by the team behind RPCS3, a free and open-source emulation software for Sony's PlayStation 3, Intel's Alder Lake processors are enjoying a hefty performance boost when E-Cores is disabled. First of all, the Alder Lake processors feature a hybrid configuration with high-performance P-cores and low-power E-cores. The P-cores are based on Golden Cove architecture and can execute AVX-512 instructions with ease. However, the AVX-512 boost is only applicable when E-cores are disabled as software looks at the whole package. Officially, Alder Lake processors don't support AVX-512, as the processor's little E-cores cannot execute AVX-512 instruction.

Thanks to the team behind the RPCS3 emulator, we have some information and tests that suggest that turning E-cores off gives a performance boost to the emulation speed and game FPS. With E-Cores disabled, and only P-cores left, the processor can execute AVX-512 and gets a higher ring ratio. This means that latency in the ring bus is presumably lower. The team benchmarked Intel Core i9-12900K, and Core i9-11900K processors clocked at 5.2 GHz for tests. The Alder Lake chip had disabled E-cores. In God of War: Ascension, the Rocket Lake processor produced 68 FPS, while Alder Lake produced 78 FPS, representing around 15% improvement.

The 3DMark Port Royal single card benchmark has a new record of 20,014 set by South Korean overclocker biso biso for Team EVGA. The overclocker used an Intel Core i9-12900K running at 5.4 GHz on an EVGA Z690 Dark Kingpin motherboard paired with the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Kingpin overclocked to 2,895 MHz. The system also featured 16 GB of DDR5 memory running at 6000 MHz from SK Hynix along with liquid nitrogen for cooling and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. This new record beats the previous record of 19,600 also from biso biso which featured the Core i9-10900K and RTX 3090 Kingpin.

EVGAArmed with the latest hardware, including an EVGA Z690 DARK K|NGP|N motherboard, and an EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 K|NGP|N running at a blistering 2,895 MHz GPU clock, extreme overclocker "biso biso" set a new single-GPU standard for 3DMark Port Royal with a score of 20,014! This marks the first ever 3DMark Port Royal (single card) score over 20,000 and a testiment to the capabilities of the highest performing EVGA products.

For those who do not familiar with PC DIY users, MSI also offers pre-built systems. The only thing that customers should worry about is what games you should play and MSI will take over the rest parts. MSI desktop line-up fully implements the concept of G.A.M.E. unlimited into the products, including performance, aesthetics, connectivity, and experience. A prebuild PC user only just enjoys the plug-and-play experience, the rest of the software and hardware integrated MSI will help you to complete the processing, while you get the product.

The new MSI gaming desktops are equipped with Intel's latest 12th Gen Alder Lake processors. The advanced Intel 7 process technology with hybrid architecture combining P-Core (Performance) and E-Core (Efficiency) increases multi-thread performance by up to 47%. The gaming performance also has more than 13% increase compared to the previous generation. The full lineup of K Series gaming desktops adopted DDR5 memory with read speed up to 60% higher than the previous generation equipped with DDR4. This can provide players with faster data reading. In addition, the MSI 12th Gen gaming desktops are all equipped with Windows 11. The Direct Storage technology can help players quickly read the games while the Auto HDR function can even improve SDR game scenes to HDR quality. This time MSI launched the all new 12th Gen Series Intel unlocked processors models including MEG Aegis Ti5, MEG Trident X and MAG Codex X5. All of these models embody the G.A.M.E. Unlimited sprit to bring gamers to the new era of gaming.

The recently announced Intel Core i9-12900K is set to launch on November 4th alongside the i7-12700K, and i5-12600K which is the date when we will see reviews for the processors released. We have already seen numerous leaks regarding the processors performance leading up to the announcement and we have now received some new leaked performance figures for the processors when operating in Maximum Turbo Power (MTP). The MTP is defined by Intel as the maximum sustained power dissipation of a processor compared to TDP which is the base power draw. The performance difference between these two power modes has been revealed from Cinebench R20 multi-threaded results posted by Wofstame the Gaming Desktop Product Planning Manager for Lenovo China.

The Intel Core i9-12900K scores 7492 points when running at its TDP of 125 W and 10180 points or 36% faster when operating at the MTP of 241 W. This performance difference is less notable for the other processors with the Core i7-12700K seeing a 30% improvement between its 125 W and 190 W power modes while the Core i5-12600K sees a 10% improvement from the 125 W TDP to 150 W MTP. Intel appears to be extracting the maximum performance from their Core i9-12900K with diminishing returns from the increased power budget compared to the other processors.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast components for gamers, creators, and PC builders, and ORIGIN PC, a provider of custom PCs for gamers, enthusiasts, and professionals, today announced updated configurations of their award-winning desktop PCs equipped with powerful new 12th Gen Intel Core processors. The CORSAIR VENGEANCE i7300 Series, alongside ORIGIN NEURON, MILLENNIUM, GENESIS, M-Class, and L-Class desktops, are all available with up to an Intel Core i9-12900K processor, supported by an array of award-winning CORSAIR components including newly-released CORSAIR DDR5 memory.

The latest generation of processors from Intel delivers incredible speed and intelligence, enabling impressive gaming, productivity, and content creation. With new performance hybrid architecture that distributes processing power to where you need it most, and compatibility with the new DDR5 memory platform, the CPUs powering every updated CORSAIR and ORIGIN PC system offer unprecedented speed and performance.

For those tired of Intel leaks, please look away now, as this is likely to be one of the last leaks before the official reveal later today. The final specifications, as well as pricing for the first six of Intel's 12th Gen Core CPUs has made an appearance online and the good news is that the official pricing isn't as bad as we've been led to believe, based on earlier leaks and it'll at least make up some of the cost increase of the Z690 motherboards over the Z590 models.

Spec wise, we're not looking at anything unexpected here, it simply verifies what has leaked so far, with one exception, maximum turbo power. Although the base TDP of all six CPUs is 125 W, it seems like Intel is using the maximum turbo power as yet another product differentiator, at least more so than it has previously. The Core i9 CPUs get a maximum turbo power of 241 W, whereas the Core i7's top out at 190 W and the Core i5's at 150 W. At least Intel is being open about it and the question is if it will have any affect on overclocking or not. Obviously having fewer CPUs cores would result in a lower power draw overall, but then the question is why the Core i5's have a base TDP of 125 W.

US computer component and electronics store Micro Center appears to have gotten ahead of things and listed the upcoming Intel Core i7-12700K and Core i9-12900K pricing on its website almost two weeks ahead of the official sale start. This should be MSRP pricing and if it's good or bad is a question of how you look at it, since both chips are significantly more expensive than their 11-series counterparts and much higher than the MSRP for those parts.

Intel's Core i7-11700K launched at US$399 and the new Core i7-12700K will beat that by $70, as it should launch at US$469.99, which seems like a large chunk of money to pay for the extra efficiency cores. The Core i9-11900K launched with a US$539 price point and the Core i9-12900K brings that up by US$130 to US$669.99. These prices are obviously not confirmed as yet, but Micro Center tends to be one of the cheapest places in the US to get CPUs, so we doubt there's any price gouging going on here.

Intel has had a little streak of quirky, over-the-top retail packages for its flagship desktop processors since the 9th Generation Core i9-9900K, which carries on into the 12th Gen with that of the Core i9-12900K. Overclocking.com posted a set of unboxing images. It's important to note here, that these are images of the retail i9-12900K, and not some special package sent to reviewers.

The package involves a hard paperboard hollow cube with two open sides. You undo a set of pull-tabs that are probably held together by factory seal, to pull out a pair of plastic stands holding what looks like a stack of silicon wafers in place. This decorative plastic canister is painted in gold-chrome and disperses colors like a fabricated wafer does. You open the two halves of this "wafer" to find your processor inside, with some Styrofoam cushioning. A separate compartment in the paperboard housing contains the documentation and a case-badge.

Another day, another Intel Alder Lake leak, although this time it seems to be the same Core i9-12900K retail CPU that is being tested in China. Some additional details have been provided on its ability to overclock and although it's perfectly possible to overclock these upcoming CPUs from Intel, it's going to be hard to cool them, even for very small gains in clock speeds.

An all core P-core overclock, with the E-cores at default requires quite the Voltage bump as well, since according to the leaked information, going from 4.9 GHz and a power draw of 233 Watts, with a CPU Voltage of 1.275 V to 5.2 GHz, sees a jump of almost 100 Watts. The CPU Voltage also has to be bumped to 1.38 V in the sample used. However, pushing the CPU to 5.3 GHz requires 1.44 V and pushes the CPU power to a massive 400 W, which is high-end GPU territory. That said, we're hearing that not all CPUs need this high Voltage to hit 5.2 GHz, although we also understand that 5.3 GHz is not a speed that will be easily attained. Apparently the best way to get the most performance out of these news CPUs will be to tune the turbo settings, rather than to try and overclock them.