Alder Lake and DDR5: XMP 3.0, Dynamic Memory Boost and more

Intel has unveiled the Alder Lake CPUs last week, and we covered the SKUs, features and specs here. There’s more further news, Intel has revealed a number of interesting details about the DDR5 memory support. There’s new generation of auto overclocking via XMP profiles coming, XMP 3.0, which has been significantly modified for DDR5 memory. And particularly the Dynamic memory Boost is a breakthrough feature for high-performance RAM. Read more “Alder Lake and DDR5: XMP 3.0, Dynamic Memory Boost and more” »

Test numbers leaked, Core i5-12400 to beat Ryzen 5 5600X

The release of Intel Alder Lake processors is fast approaching and with it, performance test leaks are starting to appear. We’ve already had one such leak (Ci9-12900K), but this one is more interesting. Firstly, because it contains more results, but mainly because it reports on the Core i5-12400. That is the successor to the Core i5-11400(F), which is a processor that offers a much more favorable price/performance ratio for gaming PCs than the competition. Read more “Test numbers leaked, Core i5-12400 to beat Ryzen 5 5600X” »

GPU Intel Arc graphic cards produced by Asus, MSI and Gigabyte

As you probably know, graphic cards come in reference editions with Nvidia or AMD-designed coolers, or in so-called non-reference versions with cooler and PCB designed by the producers (e.g. Evga or Sapphire) themselves. Such designs are often quieter and faster (overclocked). According to recent news you can look forward to the same with the upcoming Intel Arc, which will be produced by multiple well-known companies. Read more “GPU Intel Arc graphic cards produced by Asus, MSI and Gigabyte” »

Can you run Windows 11? App tells you what’s blocking upgrade

The “popular” topic of HW requirements of Windows 11 is back. Microsoft’s initial draconian position has softened a bit, but uncertainty remains (for example, there are rumours that officially unsupported hardware might not get updates). If you’re planning to upgrade, you may find Microsoft’s new diagnostic app helpful: it clearly tells you which requirements are met by your hardware and which not, requiring upgrades or changes. Read more “Can you run Windows 11? App tells you what’s blocking upgrade” »

There’s plenty of DDR4 Alder Lake mobos. DDR5 only in high end?

On Monday we have had an Alder Lake CPU benchmark, based on which, the support for DDR5 memory might pose a dilemma: it has high bandwidth, but might worsen latency, threatening gaming performance. But Alder Lake can also use DDR4. We now have information on the selection of DDR5 and DDR4 mainboards. Apparently getting a quality mainboard for DDR4 should not be a problem, such mainboards might even be in the majority. Read more “There’s plenty of DDR4 Alder Lake mobos. DDR5 only in high end?” »

DDR5-6400 and Alder Lake test: top bandwidth but high latency

We have the first benchmark showing what could DDR5 memory be good for. Appearing first with Alder Lake processors and Intel Z690 in November, DDR5 will officialy start at 4800MHz effective clock speed, but a leaked AIDA64 benchmark has already appeared showing the performance at DDR5-6400. It looks like we can expect great bandwidth, but it’s possible that the latency will disappoint, because AIDA shows a scary high value. Read more “DDR5-6400 and Alder Lake test: top bandwidth but high latency” »

Intel Z690 chipset for Alder Lake detailed: Gear 4 and other news

Alder Lake, a new and significantly improved CPU generation by Intel will be released in a few months (reportedly on 19th of November). The CPUs will be released together with new motherboards using the Z690 chipset and the new LGA 1700 socket. A document leak now shares insight into the features and innovations of this platform. For example we learn that Alder Lake’s memory controller will also use Gear 2 and now even Gear 4. Read more “Intel Z690 chipset for Alder Lake detailed: Gear 4 and other news” »

Gracemont, the (not so) little Alder Lake core (µarch analysis)

Intel has revealed the Alder Lake CPU architecture, or actually two architectures this time. The CPUs are hybrid and besides the main „big“ ones, there are „little“ cores called Gracemont. These are not just for marketing or for low-power idle tasks like in mobile ARM SoCs, however. Gracemont should significantly add to the overall performance, the architecture is actually surprisingly beefy. Our analysis will show you more. Read more “Gracemont, the (not so) little Alder Lake core (µarch analysis)” »

Intel Alder Lake/Golden Cove CPU core unveiled (µarch analysis)

Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are poised to be the biggest hardware event this year. Intel has unveiled the core architecture of these CPUs and we have analysed the details and new improvements inside. There’s promise of huge performance and one of the biggest architectural leaps in x86 processors, for the first time with six parallel decoders and further IPC increases, showing Intel taking the same path as Apple’s highly effective cores. Read more “Intel Alder Lake/Golden Cove CPU core unveiled (µarch analysis)” »

Intel Arrow Lake processors – high performance iGPU with 320 EU

Last week we’ve covered a leaked Intel processor roadmap showing Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake and Nova Lake processors that are to arrive after Alder Lake, Raptor Lake and Meteor Lake. We said to take it with a grain of salt, as that was the first time the Arrow and Nova codenames have shown up. But shorty after, more information on Arrow Lake has come up that could prove its existence. Looks like the mobile will pack a very fast iGPU. Read more “Intel Arrow Lake processors – high performance iGPU with 320 EU” »

Alder Lake may have a higher power draw. PSU recommendations

Intel will release new Alder Lake desktop processors in three months—with a powerful new architecture and hybrid big.LITTLE approach for the first time. These CPUs, finally manufactured on 7nm process (originally 10nm Enhanced SuperFin), should have significantly better energy efficiency. But it looks thir power needs will go up despite this. Intel is increasing the currents required from PSUs, which could mean higher power draws. Read more “Alder Lake may have a higher power draw. PSU recommendations” »

Intel AVX-512 tested in x265: how to enable it and does it help?

The 11th generation Intel Core processors (Rocket Lake) are the first mainstream desktop parts supporting AVX-512 instruction set, previously only available in Xeons or the X299 platform. One area where AVX-512 promises better performance is multimedia. We looked at one use: encoding HEVC video via x265. It’s little known, but x265 does not actually use AVX-512 by default. We’ll show you how to turn it on and what are the effects. Read more “Intel AVX-512 tested in x265: how to enable it and does it help?” »

Intel Core i7-11700KF: A hair slower, but better value than Core i9

8 cores, 16 threads. From this point of view, it is the same configuration as the Core i9-11900K(F). However, the Core i9 is a significantly more expensive processor and, especially in games, it has a much higher power consumption. At the same time, the difference in performance is minimal. It follows that with higher efficiency, the Core i7-11700K(F) has a more attractive price-performance ratio. Read more “Intel Core i7-11700KF: A hair slower, but better value than Core i9” »

The new (11400F) vs. older (10400F) Intel Core i5 processor

Intel has practically no direct competition in the segment of cheaper processors. The lowest Core i5 CPUs are significantly cheaper than the Ryzen 5 5600X, which is AMD’s entry level in this class. Therefore, this brotherly duel of the new (11400F) with the older (10400F) Core i5 is more attractive than comparing the processors between the two companies. That was also a wish of one of our readers, and now it is finally coming true. Read more “The new (11400F) vs. older (10400F) Intel Core i5 processor” »

Specs of Intel Alder Lake 125W ‘K’ processors leak: clock rate, PL2

Last week we’ve had reports of the big.LITTLE Intel Alder Lake processors reaching surprising performance: with just 8 “big” cores out of the total 16, they are said to surpass the 32-threaded Zen 3 in Cinebench R20. Now we the specs of all three 125W unlocked models, with clocks and power draw in boost, aka PL2. Looks like 10nm process will finally lower the power consumption compared to the 14nm CPUs—but not by much. Read more “Specs of Intel Alder Lake 125W ‘K’ processors leak: clock rate, PL2” »