The Intel Core i9-12950HX is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in mid 2022 and offers 8 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 24 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.3 to 5 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.7 to 3.6 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 30 MB L3 cache. As a HX-variant, the CPU offers an open multiplicator and therefore the possibility to overclock the CPU cores. Compared to the similar i9-12900HX, the 12950HX supports vPro and ECC memory (successor of the Xeon line) but the CPU overclocking is limited.
Features
The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU supports 48 PCIe lanes consisting of 16 Gen5 (x16 or 2x8), 20 Gen4 and 12 Gen3.
The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.55 GHz.
Performance
The average 12950HX in our database is in the same league as the Core i7-13650HX, Core i7-13700HX, Core i9-13900HK, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very fast chip, as of early 2023.
Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 82 W, the ThinkPad P16 G1 is among the fastest laptops built around the 12950HX that we know of. It can be 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.
Power consumption
The chip's "minimum assured" power consumption is 45 W. Its Turbo power consumption is not supposed to go over 157 W and its Base power consumption is supposed to be around 55 W. Most laptop makers will probably go for a higher value than 55 W to get better performance.
The i9-12950HX is built with Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.
| Codename | Alder Lake-HX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | Intel Alder Lake-S | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: Alder Lake-S Alder Lake-HX
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clock Rate | 1700 - 5000 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 Cache | 1.4 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2 Cache | 14 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 3 Cache | 30 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Cores / Threads | 16 / 24 8 x 5.0 GHz Intel Golden Cove P-Core 8 x 3.6 GHz Intel Gracemont E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power) | 55 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturing Technology | 10 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Max. Temperature | 100 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Socket | BGA1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | DDR4-3200/DDR5-4800 RAM (with ECC supp.), PCIe 5, Thr. Director, DL Boost, GNA, vPro Enterp., MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 770 ( - 1550 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 64 Bit | 64 Bit support | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcement Date | 05/10/2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Product Link (external) | ark.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
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