Colors / Kernels with heterogeneous architecture
We are facing Intel’s first heterogeneous or hybrid architecture where two different types of cores are used at the same time. The first of these is called P-Core and it is a high performance core, although it is less energy efficient. The second type is called E-Core and it is quite the opposite, since it has a higher energy efficiency, however, it cannot reach the level of performance of its big brother.
At first glance, this might seem counterproductive, however, the idea behind it is to let background processes (or ones that require less raw power) run on the E-Cores while the software the most powerful will work on E-Cores. – Cores. To do this, they implemented a new control unit in the processor, which, together with the optimizations of the operating system, is responsible for assigning each process to the corresponding kernel.
How does this affect performance?
This design is due to the fact that the execution time of programs is accelerated in two ways. On the one hand, we have non-parallelizable parts of code that require a very powerful CPU core, while others that can be distributed over several cores work perfectly when we have several.
E-Cores have the advantage of being simpler, therefore having fewer transistors and taking up less space on the chip. This allows Intel to fit a good number of them into a space where a single P-Core would go, which is ideal for parallel code. The Alder Lake architecture of Intel Core 12 laptops has the advantage that we’re not going to see tasks that require little power burning through watts of consumption, and that in a device that needs to last for several hours without connecting to the mains. power and which depends on a battery is the key.
Integrated GPU
The integrated GPU is an Iris Xe Max which has received some improvements over the previous generation, but in order to partner with Intel’s own ARC GPUs in third-generation Intel EVO-certified gaming laptops.
Normally, when we have a dedicated GPU in our laptop, the built-in one is disabled in games, but it can work in conjunction with the most powerful CPU, not to render the scene, because the power difference between the two parts causes a synchronization problem that generates a huge bottleneck.
However, and this is what is really interesting with these new graphics, it is possible to use the power of the laptop’s iGPU to do asynchronous calculations with dedicated graphics such as animations, the physics of objects on the scene and other elements which are part of crucial in games and which usually take advantage of the computing capabilities of the GPU.
memory controller
In laptops, types of memory are used that are not used in desktop computers, such as LPDDR, so the Intel Core 12 HP and U not only inherit the memory controller from the desktop version that gave it provides support for DDR5 4800MHz and DDR4 3200MHz memory, as well as Tiger Lake-H’s 4266MHz LPDDR4X and as a new feature we have for the first time Intel CPU support for LPDDR5 at 5200MHz.
Alder Lake Processor Laptop Form Factors
When we talk about form factor in a computer, we are referring to the size, shape, and specifications of specific hardware and its components. These can be defined by a manufacturer for the creation of its products and therefore we speak of industrial design or they can be defined as a standard for the creation of similar products, as is the case here. .
A processor does not work, it only needs its motherboard, its RAM memory and these at the same time require its analog circuitry which controls the distribution of electricity. We also cannot forget the cooling elements etc. Intel’s job when creating a new processor family is to create its corresponding form factor and in the case of the Intel Core 12 for laptops we have up to four different form factors with five different basic consumption levels.
Intel Core 12 Laptop Models
Below is a summary of the different lines that make up the Intel Core 12 laptop family.
Intel Core 12U 15W
The first of the form factors that we are going to highlight is the classic with a TDP of 15 W for the processor, the so-called ultra-thin laptops whose market is not that of the game, since they do not contain any graphics card dedicated. and use the one that is built into the processor. In other words, laptops in this form factor are ideal for those who need to do work that requires little CPU power, want long battery life, but are limited by designs like tablet and prefer a conventional laptop.
As can be seen in the list, the most advanced model is the Intel Core i7-1265U consisting of 2 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores and with a base clock speed of 1.8 GHz for the former and 1.3 GHz for the second. . They can reach 4.8 GHz and 3.6 GHz as the maximum frequency, but in doing so, their TDP goes up to 55 W.
Intel Core 12U 9W
This type of processor is intended for systems close to a tablet where the user requires the use of Windows applications for his work environment. In the case of the 9W model, you can see how the chip package is smaller and has fewer I/O interfaces. Which is to be expected, since manufacturers of laptops with this level of power consumption usually don’t include many interfaces for peripherals in order to keep the height of the PC as low as possible.
For example, it is worth noting the fact that there are no SATA interfaces and a 4-lane PCIe Gen 4 slot. The reason? Conventional hard drives are not included nor are drives as this would defeat the thin and light concept of these computers and due to space a single NVMe SSD is usually included inside. Another thing to note about the 9W models is that they only support LPDDR4X and LPDDR5 as memory instead of DDR4 and DDR5. It makes sense in the context of keeping the laptop as thin as possible. These memories are soldered to the board, which means that there are no SO-DIMM slots.
As for the models available, we have a configuration very similar to the 15W models, with the i7-1260U being the most advanced model with its configuration of 2 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores. Clock speeds? 1.1 GHz base and 4.7 GHz maximum for P-Cores, while the values for E-Cores are 800 MHz or 0.8 GHz and 3.5 GHz. As for the TDP, it oscillates between 9 W and 15 w.
Intel Core 12P
The third of the form factors are laptops with a processor that has a TDP of 28W and this is a new type of category called ultra-thin for gaming due to the fact that the height of these laptops is much lower than that of a typical gaming laptop. This was made possible by moving away from conventional optical drives and hard drives, but the trade-off is the fact that they have lower heat dissipation capability and therefore run at slower speeds than conventional gaming laptops, without however , like these, they include a dedicated GPU from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel itself accompanying the processor.
As you can see, the most powerful processor is the i7-1280P, which has a configuration of 6 P-Cores and 8 E-Cores and a TDP ranging from 28W to 64W. 1.8 GHz base, but can increase their clock speed up to 4.8 GHz, while those designed for efficiency range from 1.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz.
Intel Core 12H
The latest Intel Core 12 laptop models are the family of classic gaming or high-performance laptops, with a base TDP of 35 or 45 W, but which can reach speeds of up to 5 GHz with the i9-12900H or i9 – 12900HK models.
As you can see, the configurations are similar to the 28W models, but with a higher clock speed thanks to the greater headroom offered by laptops with this type of design. As for the maximum TDP, depending on whether we are talking about a basic TDP or another, it can reach up to 95 W, but we do not know at the moment if it is something general between the two Core 12H variants.
Packed in Intel Core 12 laptops
We will see manufacturers using the same motherboard for 45 W, 35 W, 28 W and even 15 W models. The number of interfaces is concerned and the size of the box itself.
That is to say, the Intel Core 12 for laptops have three ranges where the processor is delivered in a BGA type package of 50 x 25 x 1.3 mm and therefore soldered to the plate which integrates two chips: the larger is the CPU itself and on the other a second chip integrates the GPU so that at first glance it recalls a configuration very similar to the Tiger Lake-H.
Performance
The information that we are going to give comes from Intel itself, for which it is completely partial, but it helps us to get an idea of what the jump has been compared to the previous generation and that is that for Carrying out the benchmark they compared the i9-12900HK , the most powerful of the current generation, with an i9-11900HK which is its equivalent in the previous one based on Tiger Lake-H. And as you can see from the image above, the first thing to notice is higher performance per watt.
Although the comparison with AMD is fair, since Intel did not know the performance of the new Ryzen 6000 at the time, the highlight is undoubtedly the fact of surpassing Apple and its M1 Max in efficiency and performance per watt, which already tells us a lot about what has been achieved by this architecture.
Games
Because the use of these processors is going to be primarily in games, but not exclusively, we’re interested to know what the level of improvement is over the previous generation under the same hardware and apparently games can run at a rate frames up to 28% higher. However, we do not know with which type of memory in the Intel Core 12-H (P series) the test was carried out, whether with DDR5 or DDR4. Although we know that an NVIDIA RTX 3080 was used as a complementary GPU.
Content creation
Content creation apps require a lot of CPU power to run. We are talking about applications used for video editing, graphic design, 3D modeling, etc., and after all, the type of laptops that have processors such as the Intel Core 12-H mounted on them are nothing more than portable workstations.
These applications usually incorporate performance benchmarks which are used to measure the performance of one processor against others to run an application. In them we can see how substantial the improvement over the eleventh generation is. From 9% in Autodesk Revit to 44% in Adobe Premiere via Pugetbench.
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