Intel's unreleased, and as yet, unannounced, Core i5-12400 Alder Lake processor has appeared on Ebay as both an OEM and engineering sample. These chips are running at various different clock speeds, but all are six core CPUs with performance (P) cores only, no efficiency cores. The ones that closely match the leaked retail specs confirm that this chip will hit 4.4Ghz at boost when released and will have Intel's UHD 730 graphics.
Intel's Alder Lake processors have been a real success story for Intel, just over a week after their initial release. Reviews and consumer response have been strong, with prais heaped on the strong single threaded and multi-threaded performance of the 12600K, 12700K, and 12900K. But those chips are the flagship performers, and will not make up the bulk of chips purchased outside of enthusiast sectors of the market. For everyone else, there's the incoming non-K, and entry-level chips.
Intel hasn't detailed them yet, but expected CPUs include a 12900, 12700, 12600, 12500, 12400, 12200, and 12100. There will also be low-powered "T" versions of these chips in specific OEM systems. There has been speculation that the lower-tier parts will only feature the P cores and won't take advantage of the impressive E core enhancements of the higher-tier chips.
Still, the advancements in Intel's Golden Cove architecture can't be denied. The 12400 is expected to get very close to the AMD Ryzen 5600X, which is still priced close to $300. We'll probably see price drops for most of AMD's CPUs in the future, but Intel's upcoming lower-tier chips are going to put some serious pressure on team red's limited chip lineup of this generation.
It goes without saying, though, that you shouldn't buy any of these engineering sample chips. Intel made a point of making motherboards incompatible with them at launch, so you'd basically be buying a paperweight.
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