Intel Core i9-12900K Engineering Sample Smiles For The Camera

As the supposed November launch date for Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake lineup looms over us, it’s only normal that the chipmaker’s rusty plumbing develop more leaks on the subject. To that end and thanks to the internet, there are now very detailed, close-up shots of what is believed to be an engineering sample of the Core i9-12900K.

Pictures of the 12900K were posted by prominent leakster Yuuki_AnS (@yuuki_ans) on the Chinese social media platform, Bilibili, as well as Twitter. The CPU bears the label “QX7H”, which is apparently the second revision of the flagship CPU. Needless to say, the close-up shots are gorgeous and filled with enough detail that we actually don’t have to squint. Of the entire album, the most detailed of the photos is the one that shows the CPU’s grid array.

On another note, the pictures also show offs the CPU’s longer shape and form factor, confirming Intel’s departure from its symmetrical CPU design. Moreover, the images also give us a look at the height of the 12900K, which earlier reports have said will be different from its current Rocket Lake lineup.

The changes in Alder Lake’s form factor also means that consumers may have no choice but to purchase a new cooling solution that fits the LGA1700 form factor or simply update the brackets on their currently existing coolers. Just like MSI or Noctua are doing.

Intel is expected to launch the Alder Lake desktop CPU lineup on 4 November.

Alleged Intel Xe HPG Desktop Engineering Sample Appears For The First Time

By now, we’ve heard several rumours and seen several snippets of Intel’s Xe HPG GPU, but never the desktop graphics card form factor that several of us have been hoping to see. That is, until today.

YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead recently published a video on his channel, along with images of what is apparently an engineering sample of the chipmaker’s upcoming Xe-HPG desktop graphics card. According to the YouTuber, the dual-fan cooling solution being shown is just one of three cooler designs that Intel has in store for the lineup.

Moore’s Law is Dead’s video also provides some details about the Xe-HPG, although it’s not information we haven’t heard before; the GPU is expected to have 16GB GDDR6 graphics memory, along with a 256-bit memory bus and TDP of 275W. On the subject of power, the video also shows an image of the card’s PCIe power ports, which are 8-pin and 6-pin. Lastly, the card will also feature 512 Execution Units (EU) and boost clocks of 2.2GHz.

If you’re wondering what all those details equate to in terms of performance metrics for the alleged Xe-HPG, Moore’s Law is Dead says that it should be somewhere between an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080. Oh, and they also mention that Intel actually has an AI-powered super sampling technology similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS, known as XeSS.

As for the availability, the YouTuber says that at this rate, a launch this year is beginning to look very unlikely, with a 2022 availability now looking far likely. Naturally, this is all merely rumours, so take this with a grain of salt.