During CES 2022, Intel officially released the 12th generation Core processor high-performance mobile H series code-named Alder Lake-H, which is commonly known as the "12th generation H standard voltage", mainly for mobile platform products such as audiophile-grade game books and high-performance workstations.
The 12th Generation Core processor high-performance mobile version of the Alder Lake-H has many new features, such as Intel 7 process, hybrid architecture design (including 6 P-Core and 8 E-Core, two P-Cores less than the desktop version), support for DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200, LPDDR5-5200, LPDDR4x-4266 and other types of memory, PCIe 4.0×8 discrete graphics channels, 2 PCIe 4.0×4 SSD channels, 4 direct-attach Thunderbolt 4, etc.; the chipset provides 12 PCIe 3.0 channels, cnVIo modules supporting Wi-Fi 6E networks, etc.
In terms of specific specifications, Alder Lake-H's flagship product is Core i9-12900HK, providing 6P-Core and 8E-Core with a total of 20 threads, a three-level cache capacity of 24MB, and a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 5.0GHz, PBP of 45W, and MTP of 115W.
Intel is confident in the Alder Lake-H series, stating in its official promotional materials that the Core i9-12900HK is currently the fastest mobile processor and the best mobile gaming platform in the world, while also providing powerful content creation efficiency.
After the Spring Festival, the major brands equipped with the 12th generation Core Alder Lake-H standard pressure processor gamebook has been released, such as MSI GE76, HP Shadow Genie 7, Asus Sky Choice 3, Dell G15, etc., and various media at home and abroad have also conducted comprehensive tests on new products, and the results prove that Intel's official publicity this time is not boastful. Whether it is the high-end Core i9-12900HK, Core i9-12900H, or the volume of Core i7-12700H, Core i5-12500H and other models, there are very good performances.
Intel said that there will be more than 100 new products based on the 12th generation Core Alder Lake-H standard pressure processor, in addition to the traditional game book, some manufacturers have put the 12th generation Core Alder Lake-H standard pressure processor into smaller, lighter devices.
Introduction to ROG Fantasy X
Recently, the PConline evaluation room received the ROG Fantasy 13, which is a two-in-one thin and light game book equipped with a Core i9-12900H processor + RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU + 16GB LPDDR5-5200 memory.
Specifically, the thickness of the ROG Phantom X body is only 12.9mm, the weight is about 1.2kg, very thin and portable; in addition, the ROG Phantom X is equipped with a 13.4-inch 120Hz refresh rate touch screen, the keyboard supports a detachable design, so it can also be used as a tablet. Based on the ROG Phantom X machine, we can gain an in-depth understanding of the performance of the 12th generation Core Alder Lake-H standard voltage processor at a low power consumption with limited heat dissipation.
The ROG Magic X after removing the keyboard can be used as a tablet:
Thermal efficiency test
Using the AIDA64 FPU for single-bake stress testing, the ROG Phantom X enables the Core i9-12900H to deliver a stable output of 50W and a short-term peak power consumption of up to 95W. Thanks to the higher thermal conductivity of liquid metals than silicone greases, the ROG Phantom X can bring a relatively better level of performance release than traditional 2-in-1 thin and light books, tablets and other devices.
Theoretical performance testing
We tested with common benchmarking software such as CPU-Z, Cinebench R20, Cinebench R23, V-Ray 5 benchmark, Geekbench 5, PCMark 10, 3DMark, PCMark 10, etc., and worked with core i9-11980HK (for MSI GE76, manual buck 0.06v), Ryzen 9 Data from the 5900HX (test bench is ROG Gun god 5Plus) for comparison.
CPU-Z is a commonly used processor test software that has a shorter pressure time and lower load pressure. Even with limited power consumption, the ROG Fantasy X equipped with core i9-12900HK has a good performance, surpassing last year's flagship game book.
Geekbench 5 is a popular cross-platform processor performance test software that contains multiple test sub-projects. In this test, the ROG Phantom X equipped with the Core i9-12900H also performed well.
The Cinebench series is the more common benchmark software developed on Cinema 4D to test processor rendering capabilities, and is currently commonly used in the R20 and R23 versions.
Both the Cinebench R20 and R23 load pressures are large, so the ROG Phantom X is limited by heat dissipation conditions and cannot make the Core i9-12900H completely full. However, thanks to the Alder Lake-H architecture innovation and further optimization of the process, the performance and energy consumption ratio have increased significantly, so that the ROG Magic X can also be stronger than the other two high-end large-size game books last year in the Cinebench series test.
3DMark has also launched a separate CPU Profile project to test the performance of different processor threads to better correspond to different types of game loads. The ROG Phantom X equipped with the Core i9-12900H has good single-threaded performance in this test, but due to power consumption and heat dissipation, the maximum thread score is average.
Let's take a look at the PCMark 10 application performance test, which simulates the daily use of a PC by running Office and Edge scripts. Thanks to the powerful single-threaded performance of the Core i9-12900H, the ROG Phantom X has also achieved good performance, surpassing last year's high-end large-size game book.
Crossmark is also a cross-platform testing tool that is easy to use and includes productivity, creativity, and responsiveness. From the results, it can be intuitively seen that the ROG Phantom X equipped with core i9-12900H performed very well in this test.
Game performance testing
In addition to the Core i9-12900H processor, the ROG Magic X is also equipped with an RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU, which also supports independent direct connection and mixed mode switching. Therefore, ROG Fantasy X can also be used as a game originally, we used counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rainbow Six: Siege, and F1 2020 to experience. Before testing the game, turn on Enhanced Mode at Armoury Crate and select Solo Direct.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is set to the highest quality and runs the benchmark map in the Workshop. The average frame rate of ROG Magic X can reach 123FPS.
Rainbow Six: Siege is set to the highest quality and runs its own hardware performance testing with an average frame rate of 132FPS.
F1 2020 turns on ultra-high image quality, runs its own benchmark performance tests, and the average frame rate of the ROG Phantom 13 can reach 81FPS.
summary
Thanks to a comprehensive change in process and architectural design, the 12th generation Core Alder Lake-H standard pressure not only improves peak performance, but also greatly improves energy consumption ratio. For example, the ROG phantom X in this test, after the core i9-12900H blessing, the performance is very powerful; even in the face of last year's high-end large-size game book, in the case of heat dissipation efficiency loss, it can also get a lead in many tests.
In addition, ROG Magic X also supports a dedicated discrete graphics card docking station, up to the TGP 150W RTX 3080 laptop GPU, and the Core i9-12900H processor to form a perfect match, for a more extreme competitive game experience.
Of course, the 12th generation Core Alder Lake family includes many product lines, in addition to the 45W TDP Alder Lake-H series, there are also 28W TDP Alder Lake-P series for high-performance thin and light books, and 15/9W TDP Alder Lake-U series for modern thin and light books, the latter two of which are further optimized for low-power scenarios and can provide better energy consumption ratios.
Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-H have almost the same specifications, both up to 6P-Core+6E-Core and 24MB L3 cache. It is believed that after the full distribution of Alder Lake-P, the performance of the mainstream light and thin books of various brands will also usher in a great leap in the first half of this year.