Alder Lake is the latest X86 CPU from Intel, and it's a significant departure from its predecessors. One of the most notable features of Alder Lake is its support for DDR5 memory. This marks a huge shift away from traditional DDR4 memory, which has been the standard for many years.

The transition to DDR5 brings about several changes, including the removal of internal bottlenecks. The power management has also been moved onto each DIMM, allowing for more granular overclocking control. Additionally, Intel's XMP 3.0 memory overclocking spec allows manufacturers to include up to three separate profiles now, with descriptive names such as high bandwidth mode or low latency mode.

Each profile is checksummed, ensuring that if anything happens to corrupt one, the system will recognize it and not allow it to continue running. Self-certification for XMP 3.0 is free of charge, which should speed up adoption among hardware vendors. This feature is especially useful for lower-end memory kits, where manual overclocking can be a challenge.

However, Intel's focus on DDR5 doesn't stop there. The company has also introduced Dynamic Memory Boost, a new feature that can automatically toggle XMP manually based on load. This means that users can save power and thermal output while retaining the benefits of high-speed memory when needed. The feature is entirely handled by the CPU and BIOS, so even operating systems like Temple OS can use it.

It's worth noting that Dynamic Memory Boost is also usable with DDR4, so users don't need to break the bank on expensive DDR5 memory right away. However, BIOS support will be necessary for this feature to work. Intel has confirmed that it will roll out shortly after the release of Alder Lake.

The Core i9 12900 K is set to launch at an eye-watering $589 price point. This puts it firmly in the enthusiast category and makes it significantly more expensive than its predecessor, the 11900 K. However, with 50% more performance cores and no efficiency cores, Intel is confident that this CPU will be a hit among enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, AMD has announced plans for their next-gen Ryzen processors with V-Cache technology. If these claims are true, we can expect a 25% gaming improvement and an overall 15% boost in performance. This would put AMD's latest offerings neck-and-neck with Intel's best in terms of gaming performance.

The prospect of two CPU manufacturers vying for dominance is always exciting, especially when it comes to the enthusiast community. And let's be honest – who doesn't love a good CPU leapfrog? That's why Intel's recent announcement has been generating so much buzz among tech enthusiasts.

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But before we get into that, let's take a closer look at DDR5 in more technical detail. As we mentioned earlier, this new memory technology brings about several changes, including the removal of internal bottlenecks and the introduction of Dynamic Memory Boost. But what exactly does DDR5 mean for the industry and your next PC?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Intel is back.It's not quite the way we all expectedwhen Ryzen first hitthe scene back in 2017.But, I don't think we could have hopedfor a better outcome than this.Not just for the consumer,but for the entire industry.- 12th Gen Core, codenamed Alder Lake,is like nothing we've everseen on the PC to date.And I'm getting some serious Ryzen,or maybe Bulldozer,vibes from the lateral thinkingit took to put it all together.- So let's talk about thewho, the what, the why,and how this return to competitionis so good for everybody.You know what else is good?Our sponsor Origin PC.Origin PC laptops can be customizedwith Intel Core processorsand Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Seriesgraphics with Max-P design.Backed by a 24/7 support team,you can check out OriginPC at the link below.(techno music)Intel's performance claims for Alder Lakeare mostly comparing againsttheir own last gen product.But make no mistake,they are still coming outswinging against AMD in gaming.They say Alder Lake gets equalor up to 30% betterperformance than Ryzen 5000depending on the game,and up to 50% better than11th Gen Core processors.This is huge.Although there are some concernsabout their methodology.Intel's graphs mentionedrunning Windows 11for all of their testing,and that's a problembecause if you've beenkeeping up with the tech news,you'll know that Windows11's new schedulerhad a little problem with AMD processorsthat took a big toll on performance.It's patched now,but when they tested it definitely wasn't,which means that all of these numbersneed to be taken with averitable pillar of salt.And that's not even consideringthe potential impactsthat this new hybridarchitecture is going to haveon older DRM or anti-cheat technologiesthat use CPU detection.While providers for these technologieshave already begun to roll out fixes,older games and appsmay never receive any,breaking compatibility.- But what makes it so different that DRMand even Windows 11'sscheduler might break?It's more like Apple's M1 processorswith dedicated performanceand efficiency cores,P and E cores for short.Those allow for tasks tobe intelligently delegatedbetween the cores that best suit them.This has fueled suspicionsthat Windows 11'sproblematic new schedulerwas developed specifically for Alder Lake,and I can see why.Intel claims that eachcluster of four of the E-coresfit in the same space as asingle 6th Gen Skylake Core,but each are more capable per watt.And I should point out despite their age,Skylake cores are very capableand usable to this day,so that's saying a lot still.That ultimately means thatif all the P-cores are full,sending a task to the simplified E-coresmight actually be fasterthan using brute forceHyper-Threading to split the P-cores.On that note,Hyper-Threading is onlyavailable on the P-cores,so we'll have to see for ourselveswhat that means for heavily threaded taskslike rendering or code compilation.My guess is each E-core clusterwill roughly equal one ortwo additional P-cores,if not more depending on the task.- But how do you even use these new cores?Enter Thread Director.Which detects what kindof work an app is doingand provides feedbackto the operating system,telling it which cores thoseapps are best suited for.It works kind of like SpeedShift or Preferred Core does,except it's got the CPU directly talkingto the operating system.No extra drivers required.Windows 11 already has supportbaked in for Thread Director,but this should also work with Linux.And if Microsoft were to grace uswith an update to Windows 10,it would work there too.Not that I'm holding my breath.On the platforms that dosupport Thread Director,it's gonna be a pretty big deal.Background tasks,like say a virus scan or a Windows update,are gonna be pushed ontothe efficiency cores,which not only reduces theimpact on foreground tasks,like gaming or content creation,but can also reduce powerconsumption and heat outputwhile those tasks are running,which on future mobile chipswill mean better laptop battery life.We don't have any info onthose products right now.But what we do knowis that the K Seriesdesktop i5's, i7's, and i9'swill all have a TDP of 125Watts in this generation.- Which sounds ridiculously confusing.Because how can a core i5 havethe same TDP as a core i9?But what Intel is doing hereis such a breath of fresh aircompared to previous releases.What used to be called TDPis now Processor Base Power or PBP,and this is how muchpower the CPU is assuredto have available to itin sustained workloads.And now, Intel is also advertisingthe Maximum Turbo Power or MTP,which is how much theCPU can use during boost.- With that informationbeing disclosed now,you can finally make informed decisionsabout your cooling setup.Not only that,but K Series CPU's are shippingwith a sustained boost modewhere PBP equals MTP,effectively turning onmulti-core enhancement by defaultand letting the CPU boost forever.So now there's finally areason to buy a K Series CPU.I mean, aside from overclocking,which, hey, may actually be a thing again.Intel wouldn't say howmuch headroom there is,but their new extreme tuning utilityis shipping with a one-clickover clock functionthat adds a fixed 100MHz across all cores.So, while that's a mild OC,it definitely shows a lot ofconfidence in their silicon.- And they may have goodreason to be confident.Not only does 12th Gen Corehave a larger footprintin the updated LGA 1700 socket,it's also builton Intel's long-awaited10nm SuperFin process,now called Intel 7because, thanks to marketing,nanometers have lost allmeaning in chip making.Ice Lake was the firstto use this process,but suffered from frequency issuesthat Tiger Lake largely resolved.Can I just say that it's really fittingthat it would be under Intel'snew CEO, Pat Gelsinger,that the new process wouldfinally be ready for the desktop.He was the chief technologyofficer back in 2008,when Intel first spoke about 10nm.Like it's...It's like they kept the seat warm for him.But six generations of 14 nanometer chips?They could have, you know,just used a water bottlefrom lttstore.com.It would have been a lot cheaper for sure.- Right?The new V2 ones even havean Intel inspired design.There's more to the platformthan just nanometers and cores though.Intel is shipping the first consumer CPUto use PCI Express Gen 5.Which feels really soonafter Gen 4, doesn't it?Although it was kind of likethis with Gen 1 through 3.It just took a long time for Gen 4to come around to the consumer market.The benefits of PCI Express Gen 5 thougharen't super clear just yet.But, as with Gen 4,it doubles the bandwidthover its predecessor.And once cards are availableto take advantage of it,it could allow for far moreflexible lane arrangementsfor things like bifurcation.Because here's the thing:eight lanes of Gen 5 isequivalent to 16 lanes of Gen 4or even 32 lanes of Gen 3.Man, we are firing on all cylinders now.It's kind of like the innovationthat we missed out on in the 2010sis all just hitting us at once now.This is great.- 12th Gen Core CPU's are going to shipwith a combination of PCIExpress Gen 5 and Gen 4.Perhaps the most usefulimprovement for right now thoughis the upgraded Gen 4 link tothe new 600 Series Chipset,which is double the bandwidth of boththe outgoing 500 Seriesand AMD's X570 platform.Not only that,but the chipset now supportsup to 28 Gen 4 lanes.Taken together,this should make it a lot easierfor Z690's new integrated Wi-Fi 6Eand standard 2.5G ethernet to co-existwith things like 10Gethernet and 20G USB ports,additional storage and more.Also, it's not common,but Intel is curiously supportinga dedicated clock generatorfor more reliable base clock overclocking.Wouldn't expect to see these outsideof enthusiast boards though.Because who actually does that?- Alder Lake is also the first X86 CPUto ship with support for DDR5.Now, like many transition chips,the memory controller onAlder Lake is compatiblewith both DDR5 and last generation DDR4,but it should be notedthat you can't run both at the same time.DDR5 could end up being one of the mostinteresting things about Alder Lakebecause it is a huge departurefrom just about everything weknow about computer memory.I've got a full deep dive onwhat is different about it.It went up yesterday.You guys are gonna want to check that out.The TL;DR thoughis that internal bottleneckshave been removed,the power management hasbeen moved onto each DIMM,and it provides much moregranular overclocking control.Intel's XMP 3.0 memory overclocking specalso allows manufacturers to includeup to three separate profiles now,and includes twouser-specified profile blockswith descriptive namesfor things like high bandwidthmode or low latency mode,including per module voltage control.Each of the profiles are CRC checksum,so if anything shouldhappen to corrupt one,the system will actually know about itinstead of happilymoving that decimal pointand letting out the magic smoke.As for the hardware vendors,self-certification is free of charge,which should speed up adoption of XMP 3.0.Perhaps even among lower end memory kits.- That's not all Intel'sdoing with memory though.Where 11th Gen Core brought the abilityto toggle XMP manually afterthe PC has been booted,Dynamic Memory Boost is a new featurethat can automaticallytoggle it based on load.It's something like Turbo Boost,but for RAM.This means that you can saveon power and thermal output,while retaining the benefitsof high-speed memory when you need it.Which might not be abig deal for desktops,but for laptops this is gonna be huge.There's no software oroperating system supportneeded for it either;it's entirely handledby the CPU and the BIOS,so even something esotericlike Temple OS can use it.Intel says that it'salso usable with DDR4,so you don't even need to buy inon expensive DDR5 rightaway to use it either.This will depend on BIOS support though,and Intel says it'll be rollingout shortly after release.- Which will be November 4th,when we'll be validatingIntel's performance claimsand checking out the rest of the platform.The Core i9 12900 K is gonna be pricedat an eye-watering $589.That's a fair bit lessthan the leak suggested,but it is still $50 more than the 11900 Kand $40 more than a Ryzen 9 5900X.A CPU that has no efficiency cores,just performance coresand 50% more of them.There's gonna be some spicy benchmarkscoming your way next week.I've been getting goosebumpsthinking about allof the innovations that AMD and Intelare gonna have to makeover the coming yearsnow that they are at eachother's throats again properly,and we finally got an engineerback in charge at Intel.AMD, for their part,are expecting their next genRyzen processors with V-Cacheto get up to a 25% gaming improvementand a 15% improvement overall.If that is true,Intel and AMD may end up neck and neckin terms of gaming performanceby the end of the year,and it'll be AMD's turn once againto pull off a little magic trick.Don't y'all love that CPU leapfrog?That's my favorite dance.And I love sponsors,like NordPass.NordPass wants to help youkeep your private information safe.And their passwordmanager stores passwords,notes, credit cards, anythingthat you want to be protectedby a strong, secure passwordwith two-factor authentication.It recognizes your favorite websites,so it'll automaticallyfill in your login detailsand allows you to create newcomplex and secure passwordswith their built-in password generator.NordPass Premium startsat only $2.50 a monthand gives you additional features,like data breach alerts,password health reports,and up to six active devices.For NordPass's Back to School Sale,for a limited time you can get 50% offon NordPass Premium plan withan extra four months for free.So, protect your passwordstoday at nordpass.com/linusand then use code LINUS.Go check out our recent first look at DDR5for a more technical deepdive on what that meansfor the industry and yournext PC going forward.- Thanks for watching.- Indeed.\n"