Intel's 12th gen 'Alder Lake-S' desktop processor lineup is expected to launch later this year in Q3 or Q4. The market is already bustling with activity in anticipation of the launch with the first compatible DDR5 RAM kit already being available and spare parts of the LGA 1700 socket also selling online.

Of course, it is likely that Alder Lake-S parts are currently being tested internally and if rumors are to be believed, then one such performance score has leaked which shows the upcoming flagship Alder Lake-S CPU, allegedly named Core i9-12900K, outperforming the Ryzen 9 5950X in Cinebench R20.

The Core i9-12900K is thought to be a 16 core, 24 thread (16C/24T) part where eight of the cores are based on the bigger Sunny Cove architecture while the remaining eight cores are smaller Gracemont cores (8+8). Only the Sunny Cove cores are hyper-threaded which leads to the bizarre 16C/24T layout.

The processor tested here is apparently a qualification sample (QS) part which means the final retail part won't be too different. The bigger Sunny Cove core was purportedly able to turbo up to 5.3GHz on a single thread while the smaller Gracemont cores were able to reach 3.9GHz. The i9-12900K allegedly has scored ~11,300 points in the Cinebench R20 multi-core test while we know the 16C/32T Ryzen 9 5950X generally gets in the ballpark of 10,000 points in this rendering benchmark.

It has also been added that in the same test, the Core i7-12700K with an (8+4) configuration - an alleged 12C/20T processor - reportedly scores 9,500+ points. The Core i5 part, a 12600K with a (6+4) configuration or 10C/16T, has purportedly achieved 7,400+ points.

Do bear in mind though that the information comes from an unofficial source and it's advised to take these with a small pinch of salt.

Source: NGA forum