The Core i9-12900KS, Intel’s new top-of-the-line Alder Lake desktop CPU, is now available from Newegg, one of the country’s largest retailers. The new CPU costs $799.99 (as @momomo we pointed out), which is $185 more than Intel’s Core i9-12900K. Higher clocks and a new boost mode distinguish this model from the standard model.
The new Intel Core i9-12900KS is part of the Alder Lake family and includes eight high-performance Golden Cove cores clocked at 3.40 GHz, eight energy-efficient Gracemont cores clocked at 2.50 GHz, Intel’s UHD Graphics 770 integrated GPU, 14MB L2 cache, and 30MB L3 cache. On Intel Z690 motherboards, the processor has an unlocked multiplier and may be readily overclocked.
While the Core i9-12900KS model’s main specifications have been known for weeks thanks to unauthorised leaks, the Newegg listing contains all of the details, including those that were previously unknown (e.g., maximum boost clock for the energy-efficient cores). Furthermore, the Core i9-12900KS has a maximum thermal power (MTP) of 241W, not 260W as previously announced. In the meantime, its basic power is 150W, up from 125W for the standard i9-12900K SKU.
While Intel’s PBP (power level 1) and MTP (power level 2) are well-known, the real power consumption of enthusiast-grade CPUs with premium motherboards could be much higher. Platform makers establish very high TDP restrictions for relatively long periods to promote performance, so as long as the CPU doesn’t reach its TDP limit, it can run at higher frequencies and demand as much power as needed. As a result, such chips’ actual power consumption far surpasses their MTP rating. For that reason, while the 12900KS has a legal MTP of 241W rather than 260W, its real-world power consumption will be higher.
Intel’s unique Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (ETVB) technology, which is the company’s sixth adaptive boost level for client chips, is used to achieve 5.20 GHz on all performance cores and 5.50 GHz on one performance core. More information about this technology will be available in our Core i9-12900KS review, but for now, we can assume that the ETVB feature is a superset of Intel’s regular Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology (which raises core frequencies when all cores are active and the CPU temperature is below 70 degrees Celsius). Motherboards will need to use the newest UEFI BIOS version to support Intel’s Core i9-12900KS processor with ETVB.
Intel’s Core i9-12900KS is $185 and $220 more expensive than Intel’s Core i7-12900K and 12900KF, respectively, at $799.99 on Newegg. Everyone must decide for themselves whether or not paying extra for the special edition processor is worthwhile, although it is unsurprising that Intel charges more for a CPU that claims to be the world’s fastest desktop processor.
