We have very good pictures of Intel’s core i9-12900K, which belongs to the 12th Core generation.
Intel Core i9-12900K ES2 poses for the cameras
The processor posing for the cameras is a pre-release development sample referred to as ES2 and codenamed QX7H.
The i9-12900 processor has a base clock of 3.5 GHz and a boost clock of 4.5 GHz. Since it is a development sample, this processor should not perform as well as the final model and may even contain some bugs.
These samples are obtained through the black market, where dealers working for system integrators acquire some of these devices, which they then sell anonymously over the Internet.
The ES2 chip, that is, it is a level 2 technical sample. According to sources, Intel would have had ES3 models (level 3) and a final QS model (qualification sample). Since it is an ES2 model, the microcode cannot be upgraded, which makes them unusable at the moment. This is not the case with the ES3 samples, which can be upgraded with microcode.
The Intel Core i9-12900K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor that combines powerful and highly efficient cores. It is a heterogeneous design that is more optimized for Windows 11.
The 12th generation Intel Core is expected to launch in November, with a revised LGA 1700 socket and support for DDR5 memory, which will obviously improve IPC performance.