Alder Lake
Over the last decade or so, advancements in CPU and GPU architectures have combined extremely well with the relentless march of Moore's Law on the silicon front. Together, these have resulted in hand-held devices that have more computing power than huge and power-hungry machines from the turn of the century. On the desktop front, small form-factor (SFF) machines are now becoming a viable option for demanding professional use-cases. CAD, modeling, and simulation capabilities that required big iron servers or massive tower workstations just a few years back are now capable of being served by compact systems. Workstation notebooks integrating top-end mobile CPUs and professional graphics solutions from AMD (FirePro) or NVIDIA (Quadro Mobile / RTX Professional) have been around since the early 2000s. The advent...
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Motherboard Review: A Solid Option For Alder Lake
Over the last six months since Intel launched its 12th Gen Core series of processors, we've looked at several Alder Lake desktop CPUs and seen how competitive they are...
34 by Gavin Bonshor on 6/15/2022NZXT Announce N7 and N5 Z690 Motherboards for Intel 12th Gen Core Processors
NZXT has announced a pair of new motherboards designed for Intel's 12th Gen Core processors: the N7 Z690 and N5 Z690. The N7 Z690 positions itself as the premium...
6 by Gavin Bonshor on 6/1/2022Intel Launches Alder Lake-HX Series Core Processors: 55W and PCIe 5.0 For High-End Mobile
Intel today is announcing a new range of mobile 12th Gen Core family processors designed for enthusiast and desktop-replacement class laptops, the Alder Lake-HX series. Focusing on the more...
54 by Gavin Bonshor on 5/10/2022DDR5 Demystified - Feat. Samsung DDR5-4800: A Look at Ranks, DPCs, and Do Manufacturers Matter?
The hottest advancement in memory technology for desktop computers in recent years is undoubtedly the release of DDR5 memory and Intel's 12th Gen Core series of processors. Not only...
68 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/7/2022The Intel Core i7-12700K and Core i5-12600K Review: High Performance For the Mid-Range
Since Intel announced and launched its 12th Gen Core series of CPUs in to the market, we've reviewed both the flagship Core i9-12900K, as well as the entry-level (but...
196 by Gavin Bonshor on 3/29/2022Update: Intel Announces Core i9-12900KS: 5.5 GHz Turbo, 5.2 GHz All-Core, Coming April 5th
Following Newegg’s flub on Friday, Intel today is now (finally) officially announcing the Core i9-12900KS. The company’s new flagship consumer desktop chip will be going on sale next Tuesday...
105 by Ryan Smith on 3/28/2022The Intel W680 Chipset Overview: Alder Lake Workstations Get ECC Memory and Overclocking Support
Earlier this month Intel quietly launched its W680 chipset, the company's workstation-focused chipset for its 12th Gen Core (Alder Lake) processors. Unlike the current generation of consumer desktop chipsets...
75 by Gavin Bonshor on 3/9/2022The Intel Core i3-12300 Review: Quad-Core Alder Lake Shines
Just over a month ago Intel pulled the trigger on the rest of its 12th generation "Alder Lake" Core desktop processors, adding no fewer than 22 new chips. This...
142 by Gavin Bonshor on 3/3/2022The GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master Mobo Review: 10GbE Rounds Out A Premium Board
The latest motherboard to grace our test bench is the GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master, which hails from its Aorus gaming series and sits just one step below its Aorus...
37 by Gavin Bonshor on 2/25/2022Intel Launches Alder Lake U and P Series Processors: Ultraportable Laptops Coming In March
Following the January launch of Intel’s first Alder Lake-based 12th Gen Core mobile processors, the Alder Lake-H family, Intel this morning is following that up with the formal launch...
96 by Ryan Smith & Dr. Ian Cutress on 2/23/2022EVGA Unleashes Z690 Dark K|NGP|N Edition Motherboard: Alder Lake Goes Extreme
Although these long, cold, and dark nights are starting to come to an end, EVGA has launched its darkest and most devilish desktop motherboard to date, the EVGA Z690...
25 by Gavin Bonshor on 2/18/2022G.Skill Blitzes DDR5 World Record With Trident Z5 at DDR5-8888
For users buying a memory kit of DDR5, if they want to adhere to Intel specifications, will buy a DDR5-4800 kit. Though through XMP, there are other faster kits...
15 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/25/2022Intel Alder Lake-H Core i9-12900HK Review: MSI's Raider GE76 Goes Hybrid
At CES this year, Intel officially announced its expanded Alder Lake lineup including the performance-laptop focused H-Series processors, which traditionally fit in the 45-Watt range. Today we finally get...
153 by Brett Howse on 1/25/2022Intel Expands 12th Gen Core to Ultraportable Laptops, from 5-cores at 9 W to 14-cores at 28 W
Over the years Intel has prided itself on its ability to provide processors that fit into the ultraportable, professional market. We’re talking thin and light designs with obscene levels...
92 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 1/19/2022The MSI MEG Z690 Unify (DDR5) Motherboard Review: The All-Black Option
With the Unify, we are looking at a premium model with support for DDR5 memory, but it doesn't feature any RGB LED lighting. The MSI MEG Z690 Unify represents...
19 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/18/2022ASRock Unveils DeskMeet SFF PC Platform with Intel B660 / AMD X300 Chipsets
ASRock has been at the forefront of the small form-factor (SFF) PC revolution right from the Sandy Bridge days. Starting with the Core HT series in the early 2010s...
17 by Ganesh T S on 1/18/2022CES 2022: ASUS Unveils ROG Strix B660-I Gaming WIFI Mini-ITX Motherboard
During CES 2022, ASUS announced its H670, B660, and H610 motherboards designed for Intel's 12th generation Alder Lake processors. Among the launch of five new ROG Strix models for...
10 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/7/2022CES 2022: Colorful Announces Three Micro-ATX B660 Motherboards
During CES 2022, Colorful has unveiled three new micro-ATX motherboards based on Intel's latest B660 chipset. Featuring support for Intel's 12th generation Alder Lake processors, the Colorful CVN B660M...
4 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/7/2022CES 2022: GIGABYTE Announces B660 Aorus Master Motherboards
During CES 2022, GIGABYTE unveiled many B660 and H610 motherboards designed for Intel's latest Alder Lake processors. Perhaps the most interesting and 'premium' of these is the GIGABYTE B660...
6 by Gavin Bonshor on 1/6/2022