New Overclocking Controls

With the new Hybrid core architecture, Intel's 12th Gen Core Alder Lake adds a degree of complexity that introduces additional overclocking toggles. These include the ability to overclock the E cores separately from the P-cores, internal and external base-clock options, the ability to overclock both DDR5 and DDR4 memory types on the fly with the machine running,which is not yet available on the AMD platform, the new XMP 3.0 SPD enhancements for DDR5 memory modules, and lots more.


The introduction of the E-core adds its own base-clock multiplier, called xE, which works separately from the core ratio of the P-cores, dubbed xP. The xG multiplier dictates iGPU frequency. xR dictates the frequency at which the Ringbus interconnect and L3 cache operate. There are two separate base clocks as there can be up to two clock generators on the platform. The processor has an on-die internal clock-generator that can suffice for all domains and reduces motherboard cost, but certain premium motherboards feature a discrete, external clock-generator with a broader, or more granular, frequency range. This external BCLK can be made to dictate specific clock domains or all of them. The added complexity of the SoC also introduces additional voltage domains and offsets.


All together, there are 20 new tuning knobs for overclockers to fine-tune their OC. Intel is introducing the new Extreme Tuning Utility version 7.6, which gives you access to all these controls, as well as simplifying OC with the new Speed Optimizer feature. Speed Optimizer adds a fixed 100 MHz overclock to your CPU. We double-checked with Intel, it does not scan for a higher frequency and does not test for stability. Intel, however, is confident that +100 MHz can be handled by every CPU out there, so there's no need to test. This does mean that manual overclocking has additional potential.


With the new DDR5 standard, Intel is introducing Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 3.0, a feature that makes applying the advertised frequency and latencies of an overclocked memory module easy on an unlocked platform. XMP 3.0 introduces longer profile names of up to 16 characters, up to five stored profiles per DIMM, of which three are provided by the manufacturer and two are re-writable by you, and support for the DDR5 PMIC (on-module power-management controller), including its three voltage rails—VDD, VDDQ, and VPP.


Intel has constantly been figuring out the best heat transfer mechanism from the die to your heatsink, and with the 12th Gen, it has made yet another change. Much like Comet Lake, the new Alder Lake silicon uses a very thin silicon substrate. What's new is that the solder thermal interface material (STIM) layer is thinner. The copper integrated heatspreader is much thicker, so it can soak up more heat. The LGA1700 package itself is longer than that of LGA1200 and hence has more surface area for heat transfer.


The new Dynamic Memory Boost feature leverages the on-the-fly memory overclocking feature unique to Intel memory controllers. To conserve power, it lets you toggle between the JEDEC-default and various XMP 3.0 profiles on your memory modules based on system workloads.


With the 12th Gen, Intel is changing the definition of "PL" power levels. PL1 is now an abstract concept and no longer strictly matches with the TDP advertised for a particular SKU. All of the unlocked K/KF SKUs come with a "processor base power" rating of 125 W. The company will no longer use the term "TDP" in its documentation or marketing. The PL2 value as we knew it will now be referred to as "maximum turbo power." For all SKUs being launched today, the default value for both these values is 241 W, so PL1=PL2=241 W. We're not exactly sure how this works together with a "125 W" claim, but will know more on November 4th when our reviews go live.

Also, with this generation, Intel is retiring the Thermal Velocity Boost feature, which rewarded good cooling with additional boost bins. The Core i7 and Core i9 SKUs feature Turbo Boost Max 3.0 and Turbo Boost 2.0 algorithms, including the former's reliance on preferred cores (managed by Thread Director). The Core i5 SKUs only get Turbo Boost 2.0.