When it comes to the energy needs of the next generation of Intel Alder Lake / Core 12000, there have been three major reports so far. The oldest of them was that Intel is considering whether to include models with 150W TDP in the offer. The second is that when all cores are loaded, the real consumption relatively easily exceeds 200 watts. Third, compared to the previous generation, the PL2 limit (ie the maximum power consumption that the processor can take longer than peak) is reduced from 125 to 229 watts for the 125W Core i7 / i9.
This information is partly contradictory (some would rather indicate an increase in real maximum power consumption, others rather a decrease), but they have one thing in common: Consumption – whether slightly higher or slightly lower – will still be very high compared to standard desktops.
In a generation Alder Lake it is all the more surprising that this is a transition from 14nm production to the fourth generation of 10nm production, which Intel began to refer to as “Intel 7”. This seeks to indicate some equivalence with TSMC’s 7nm process. It can be compared with this in terms of density (number per area) of transistors. However, it seems to be worse in terms of energy, although it will be better in terms of consistently achievable frequencies. The energy side may come as a surprise to some, as there is a generation difference between Rocket Lake and Alder Lake; according to Intel, even two generations, while the process “Intel 7” (4th generation 10nm production) should differ from the 3rd generation 10nm production, among other things, quite significantly (10-15%) better power (clock) to watt ratio.
A new surprise comes from Intel documents, which recommend to OEM partners resource parameters for generation processors Alder Lake. The requirements for continuous performance do not decrease in any way compared to the values recommended for generations Comet Lake a Rocket Lake. The requirements for top performance then increased quite significantly:
The first (upper) half of the table shows the values for previous / current generations, Comet Lake a Rocket Lake (Core 10000/11000), the other half for Alder Lake (Core 12000). Although the TDP value of 165W suggests that there was something about the consideration of the increased (originally stated 150W) TDP, it does not in itself mean that such models will be available. If memory serves me right, Intel has not released such models in previous generations (although listed in the table).
The recommended value of peak current consumption on the 12V branch for 125W models increased from 34 A to 39 A, ie by 5 A (15%), expressed in watts increased from 408 to 468 watts (by 60 watts). Significantly higher for 65W models; from the current 30 A to 38.5 A, ie by 8.5 A (28%), or from 360 to 462 watts (by 102 watts). For an economical 35W processor, it increased from 16.5 to 20.5 A, ie by 4 A (24%), ie from 198 to 246 watts (by 48 watts).
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