Intel Core i9-12900K sample spotted with 5.3GHz Boost

Later this year, Intel will roll out its Alder Lake-S processors. These will be the first 10nm processors for the desktop market, they will feature a hybrid design with high-performance and high-efficiency cores, and there will be support for DDR5 (DDR4 is also still supported though).

VideoCardz reports an engineering sample has been spotted of the Intel Core i9-12900K. The sample has a base clock of 3.9GHz and a Boost clock of 5.3GHz. That's a lot higher than the previously reported 5.0GHz, but still lower than the rumored 5.5GHz. We'll have to wait and see where the final parts end up.

There is also confirmation that Alder Lake-S will require Windows 11 for optimal performance. The new operating system has an updated scheduler with better support for hybrid architectures. It's unknown if this feature is also part of the next feature update for Windows 10.

Just a day ago another leaker (YuuKi_AnS) shared early information on all known mobile Alder Lake Engineering Samples (ES) bugs. He also confirmed that in order to benefit from Intel’s Hybrid Technology (heterogeneous architecture), the latest Windows 11 operating system is required.