Intel aims to get mojo back with 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors

Intel announced what it called the world’s fastest mobile processor with its 12th Gen Intel Core family of chips.

At its virtual event for the tech trade show CES 2022 in Las Vegas, Intel introduced 28 new 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors and another 22 desktop processors (which come on the heels of an October launch of desktop chips). Intel said the chips are up to 40% faster than the previous generation mobile processors.

And that represents a bigger improvement than usual for the company as it battles Advanced Micro Devices, which has been historically weaker and slower but has been on a growth path for the past few years thanks to its Zen architecture. Just a couple of hours ago, AMD also introduced its latest family of Ryzen 6000 mobile processors.

Intel said its chips will power laptops for people to compute whenever and wherever they need –without compromise. With the introduction, Intel is launching chips across consumer, enterprise, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other applications. This kind of progress is important, as market researcher Gartner estimates that 31% of workers worldwide will still be working remotely in 2022.

“We’re making ubiquitous computing a reality,” said Gregory Bryant, executive vice president of Intel’s Client Computing Group, in a virtual press event for CES 2022. “We’re on track to have our fastest ramp of all time.”

Intel unveiled its 12th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors, including the flagship Intel Core i9-12900HK – which it said is the fastest mobile processor ever created. The chip has two types of cores.

By pairing Performance-cores (P-cores) and Efficient-cores(E-cores) with intelligent workload prioritization and management distribution through Intel Thread Director, the new chip can perform better on both single-threaded and multi-threaded applications. And it can balance both performance and power efficiency.

Based on the Intel 7 manufacturing process, the new 12th Gen H-series processors offer up to 5GHz frequencies, 14 cores (6 P-cores and 8 E-cores), and 20 threads that give the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900HK the speed crown, the company said.

Intel showed a demo of Hitman 3 running at 5.2GHz on a new Intel processor.

“I try to take vendor benchmark numbers with a grain of salt,” said Kevin Krewell, an analyst at Tirias Research, in an email to GamesBeat. “The real story to me is that AMD and Intel are back in a real dogfight for the performance crown and each companies products make significant improvements in areas like power and security. No matter who wins the performance ‘crown,’ both companies are producing excellent processors that will make the customer the real winner. The challenge for both companies is which one can ship more units.”

And, taking another jab at rivals AMD and Nvidia, Intel is also launching its own Arc graphics chip, code-named Alchemist — the first standalone graphics chip for the company in many years.

The new CPU’s performance is good for both gaming experiences across top gaming titles and content creation tools, Intel said.

Intel said the 12th Gen Intel Core H-series is the world’s best mobile gaming platform, delivering up to 28% faster gaming than its previous Intel Core i9-11980HK. For content creation, users may see up to 43% higher performance in 3D rendering gen-over-gen.

“It’s all about the core performance this generation for us,” said Dan Rogers, director of marketing and product management at the client computing group at Intel, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We have a pretty significant step forward in the architecture, with both types of cores. Putting them together in this performance hybrid configuration, as we call it, is a big step and it sets a trajectory for us on the roadmap.”

He added, “We have a major step forward on performance for both single-thread and multi-thread applications, and real-world workflows.”

A platform boost

The new CPU family has memory support for DDR5/LPDDR5and DDR4/LPDDR4 modules to 4800MT/s –a first for the H-series mobile processors.

And it also supports Intel Wi-Fi 6E, which delivers three times faster connectivity on exclusive high-speed channels without legacy Wi-Fi interference. And it has Thunderbolt4 support that delivers transfer speeds up to 40Gbps and PC connectivity to multiple 4K monitors and accessories.

Designed for enthusiast gamers, creators, and engineering professionals who want to push their laptop performance to the next level, the new 12th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors deliver desktop-caliber performance on the go, Intel said.

The chips will power systems available starting in February 2022. The 12th Gen Intel Core mobile family also includes the new U- and P-series mobile processors. With up to 14 cores and 20 threads and featuring Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, the new P-series processors operate at 28-watt base power and are designed for performance thin-and-light laptops, while the U-series processors operate at 9 watts to 15 watts and are designed for thin-and-light laptops.

Intel said these mobile processors are tailor-made for the performance needed in the variety of thin-and-light laptops and cutting-edge form factors that computer makers will deliver in 2022, including foldables, 2–i1s, detachable, and others.

Built to take on simultaneous everyday workloads, business productivity, and even gaming in full high definition (FHD), these 12th Gen Intel Core U-and P-series mobile processors will be available in the first quarter of 2022, including devices designed for both Windows and Chrome operating systems.

“Ryzen 6000’s improvements heavily target the thin and light laptop segment. With the shift towards TSMC’s 6nm (from 5nm), AMD was able to significantly improve base clock speeds without increasing its power envelope,” said Aakash Jani, analyst at the Linley Group, in an email to GamesBeat. “It’s difficult to estimate the CPU performance difference between the i7-1265U (12th Gen U-series) and AMD’s Ryzen 7 6800U because Intel increased the thread count to 12 threads, but did so by using two performance cores and eight efficiency cores compared to four cores and eight threads in the 11th Gen line.”

He added, “For single-threaded performance, however, I expect the Intel part to lead. RDNA2 is a big win for ultraportable devices, many laptop chipsets rely on integrated GPUs to maintain their power budget. The RDNA2 addition lifts on-die memory, which is critical for 1080p gaming, and boosts the number of compute units generationally. With RDNA2, AMD should lead Intel in 1080p, ultraportable gaming. With its new APUs, AMD launched three new ML based software solutions for AMD CPU + AMD GPU laptops. It performs super resolution and Privacy View efficiently with a pair of Tensilica Vision Q6 and C5 DSPs, which outperform the integrated DSP solution in Intel’s 12th Gen part. The DSPs free up the GPU for graphics intensive workloads, as intended.”

12th Gen Intel Core desktop processor family additions

Intel also said it has 22 new processors in the 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processor family, ranging from the Intel Core i9 brand to Pentium and Celeron. they range in power consumption from 35 watts to 65 watts.

Intel also introduced new Intel Laminar Coolers that accompany the new 65-watt processors. In addition, Intel introduced the new Intel H670, H610, and B660 chipsets that will support broad consumer processors.

The new chipset options deliver features like PCIe 4.0 lanes, integrated IntelWi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) –as well as support for memory and processor overclocking.

Intel Evo platform

Intel also announced updates to the Intel Evo platform for laptops and other small computers.

More than 100 co-engineered designs with 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors – including new foldable displays and, for the first time, H-series in addition to U-and P-series – are expected to start passing Intel Evo verification, and most will be available for purchase in the first half of 2022.

In addition to the responsiveness, real-world battery life, instant wake, and fast charge, an additional set of system requirements and tests called “intelligent collaboration” have been added to the third-edition specifications for the Evo platform. That means better video conferencing.

Intelligent collaboration ensures an enhanced experience when collaborating through video conferencing apps on a PC thanks to technologies like AI-based background noise cancellation, integrated IntelWi-Fi 6E (Gig+), Intel Connectivity Performance Suite, and optional AI-accelerated camera imaging effects.

Intel also updated its vPro platform for businesses. The Intel vPro Enterprise platform has enterprise-grade computing, premium security, modern manageability, and stability for managed businesses of all sizes. It now supports the Chrome operating system with Intel vPro Enterprise for Chrome.

“Microsoft and Intel have a long history of partnering together to deliver incredible performance and seamless experiences to people all over the world,” said Panos Panay, chief product officer at Microsoft, in a statement.”Whether playing the latest triple-A title, encoding 8Kvideo, or developing complex geological models, the combination of Windows 11 and the new 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors means you’re getting a powerhouse experience.”

Rogers said gamers will notice how powerful their new laptops are, even though they fit into razor-thin chassis.

As you can tell, Intel is pretty proud of its new chips. I’m just glad they didn’t say they’re going to power the metaverse with them.