Intel has taken to Twitter to showcase an upcoming 12th Generation Alder Lake processor that flexes a 5.5 GHz boost clock. Although the chipmaker didn't reveal the exact model of the chip, the numbers align with the rumored specifications for the Core i9-12900KS.
The Core i9-12900K is already one of the best CPUs on the market, but the Core i9-12900KS will surely blow it out of the water. The former has a 5 GHz all-core boost clock but varies depending on the workload. The Core i9-12900KS has a 200 MHz or 4% higher boost clock than the current Alder Lake flagship right out of the gate.
What's interesting about Intel's tweet is the hint that the chipmaker hasn't finished tweaking the chip, and 5.5 GHz is the next goal. Of course, it wouldn't be insane to bin for a 5.5 GHz all-core boost clock, but the chip will require serious cooling, such as those thermoelectric CPU coolers that launched with Rocket Lake.
The Core i9-12900K hits 5.2 GHz thanks to Intel's Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0. However, according to Intel's screenshot, the Core i9-12900K does 5.5 GHz effortlessly. That's approximately a 6% uplift.
Besides the higher clock speeds and power consumption, the Core i9-12900KS will be identical to the Core i9-12900K. It'll still sport a total of 16 cores, consisting of eight Golden Cove cores with accompanying eight Gracemont cores. The Alder Lake chip will slot into the LGA1700 socket, but motherboards will likely require an update to house the Core i9-12900KS.
The Core i9-12900KS may debut in the first quarter of this year; however, the exact date and pricing remain a mystery.
