The latest processors from the Intel i9 generation belong to the 12th generation. We compare these processors against the Intel 11th generation family of i9 processors. What are the key differences between the Intel i9 11th and 12th generation processors? We seek to answer this user query so that you may take a more balanced decision about your next processor purchase.
i9 11th generation and i9 12th generation processors
There are 8 processors that have been released as part of the 11th generation of i9 family of processors. And, as of today, there are 9 processors that have been released as part of the 12th generation of i9 family of processors. We list these processors below. Some of these are for the desktop series, while others are suitable for the mobile or notebook series. A few processors are for the embedded series systems.
i9 11th generation processors
The following are all the processors from the Intel i9 11th generation of processors:
- Intel i9-11900
- Intel i9-11900K
- Intel i9-11900F
- Intel i9-11900KF
- Intel i9-11900T
- Intel i9-11900H
- Intel i9-11950H
- Intel i9-11980HK
i9 12th generation processors
The following are all the processors from the Intel i9 12th generation of processors:
- Intel Core i9-12900
- Intel Core i9-12900E
- Intel Core i9-12900F
- Intel Core i9-12900H
- Intel Core i9-12900HK
- Intel Core i9-12900K
- Intel Core i9-12900KF
- Intel Core i9-12900T
- Intel Core i9-12900TE
Number of Cores – Intel i9 11th gen vs i9 12th gen
One of the primary differences between the i9 11th gen processors and the i9 12th gen processors is the number of processor cores on each generation.
- All the 12th generation i9 processors have 16 cores, with the exception being the two mobile processors for laptops. These two processors have a total of 14 cores. The two mobile series or notebook series processors are the Intel i9-12900H and i9-12900HK. This effectively implies that out of the nine processors from the i9 family of 12th generation, 7 have 16 cores and 2 have 14 cores. In comparison, i9 11th generation has a total of 8 cores. i9 12th gen has a higher number of processor cores than the i9 11th gen processors.
- i9 12th generation processors have the cores divided into performance cores and efficient cores. All the desktop series processors of i9 12th generation have 8 performance and 8 efficient cores.
Frequency- Intel i9 11th gen vs 12th gen
Both, the i9 11th generation and i9 12th generation processors support Turbo frequency 3. The base frequency and the turbo frequency differ on the processors from the i9 11th gen and the 12th gen processors. We list the base and turbo frequencies of the Intel i9 11th gen and Intel i9 12th gen below.
Base and Turbo Frequency of Intel i9 11th gen processors:
- i9-11900T has a base frequency of 1.50 GHz and turbo frequency of 4.90 GHz
- i9-11900 has a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and turbo frequency of 5.20 GHz
- i9-11900F has a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and turbo frequency of 5.20 GHz
- i9-11900KF has a base frequency of 3.50 GHz and turbo frequency of 5.30 GHz
- i9-11900KF has a base frequency of 3.50 GHz and turbo frequency of 5.30 GHz
- i9-11900H has a turbo frequency of 4.90 GHz.
- i9-11950H has a turbo frequency of 5.00 GHz.
- i9-11980HK has a turbo frequency of 5.00 GHz.
The turbo frequencies of the Intel i9 12th gen processors are mentioned below:
- i9-12900TE has a maximum turbo frequency of 4.80 GHz.
- i9-12900T has a maximum turbo frequency of 4.90 GHz.
- i9-12900E has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.00 GHz.
- i9-12900 has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.10 GHz.
- i9-12900F has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.10 GHz.
- i9-12900K has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.20 GHz.
- i9-12900KF has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.20 GHz.
Cache – Intel i9 11th gen vs 12th gen
Intel i9-12900 series processors or the 12th generation processors have a smart cache of 30 MB. The only exception is the set of two mobile series or notebook series processors (i9-12900H and i9-12900HK) that have a smart cache of 24 MB. All i9-12900 series processors also have an L2 cache of 14 MB.
Intel i9-11900 series or the 11th generation processors have a smart cache of 16 MB for the desktop series of processors. Mobile series or notebook series processors in the Intel i9-11900 have a smart cache of 24 MB.
The actual performance difference would reflect on the desktop series processors of the Intel i9-12900 as the cache is almost double of the cache on 11th generation processors.
PCIe Support- Intel i9 11th gen vs 12th gen
One of the significant advancements on the i9 12th generation processors has been the support of PCIe 5. Backward compatibility with PCIe 4 exists. PCIe5 is a much faster standard for data transmission from the processor to the peripherals, SSD or NVMe drives, and graphic processors on the motherboards. It has double the number of lanes on the motherboard to bring up faster data transfer rates in comparison to PCIe 4 standards.
The speed of data transfer on PCIe 4 is 16 GTs and the speed of data transfer on PCIe 5 is 32 GTs. Together with a faster processing power of the 12th generation processors, the increase in data transfer rates on the PCIe 5 compatible boards would improve overall system performance.
RAM and RAM speed- Intel i9 11th gen vs 12th gen
Intel i9-11900 series or the 11th generation processors are compatible with DDR4 RAM that works at a frequency of 3200 MHz. Intel i9-12900 series also supports the DDR 4 RAM with a frequency of 3200 MHz. Additionally, the 12th generation processors of the i9 family support DDR4 RAM with a frequency of 4800 MHz. We can achieve a higher RAM throughput on the Intel i9-12900 series processors. The bandwidth of DDR4 4800 MHz RAM is 76.8 GBs while that of DDR 4 3200 MHz RAM module is 50 GBs. The difference in data transmission on the RAM is substantial and can add to overall system performance.
Integrated Graphics- Intel i9 11th gen vs 12th gen
Intel i9 11th gen supports Intel UHD 750 integrated graphics on the following processors:
- i9-11900
- i9-11900T
- i9-11900K
The mobile series or notebook series of Intel i9 11th generation processors support the Intel UHD graphics. These processors are enumerated below.
- i9-11900H
- i9-11950H
- i9-11980HK
Intel i9 12th gen supports UHD 770 integrated graphics on the following processors:
- i9-12900
- i9-12900K
- i9-12900E
- i9-12900T
- i9-12900TE
The mobile series processors support the Intel Iris XE graphics engine. These processors are mentioned below:
- i9-12900H
- i9-12900HK
Intel UHD 770 graphics standard leads to a slight improvement in graphics rendering. You can easily add 10-20 frames per second with an Intel UHD 770 over the Intel UHD 750 series of graphic processors.
- The graphics frequency range for Intel i9 11 gen processors is between 350 MHz to 1.30 GHz.
- The graphics frequency range for Intel i9 12 gen processors is between 330 MHz to 1.50 GHz.
Compatible Sockets – Intel i9 11th gen vs i9 12th gen
- Intel i9 11th gen processors (desktop series) have a size of 37.5 x 37.5 mm. It is the square shaped processor. i9 11th gen is compatible with FCLGA1200 socket.
- Intel i9 12th gen processors (desktop series processors) have a size of 45 x 37.5 mm. It is a rectangular shaped processor. i9 12th gen is compatible with FCLHA1700 socket. There are 500 additional pins on the Intel i9 12th gen processor for faster processing. FCLGA1700 sockets support PCIe 5 standards for motherboards and faster data transfer.
Windows 11 compatibility – i9 11th gen vs i9 12th gen
Both, Intel i9 11th generation and Intel i9 12th generation processors are compatible with Windows 11. You could choose to deploy Windows 10 on your computer. It should get automatically updated to Windows 11 through the Windows Update program on the control panel. There are no processor level incompatibilities between any of the 17 processors from the Intel i9 11th gen or 12th gen processors. You may even choose to load Windows 11 as the default operating system.
Summary
There are definite improvements from Intel i9 11th generation to 12th generation processors. The gains can be attributed due to enhanced PCIe 5 support and higher cache on the processor. The generic improvements in the number of cores and frequency is a natural upgrade from one generation to the other. If you can, go for the i9 12th gen processor for an improved speed and a marginally better graphics experience.
You may also like to read the following content related to Intel and Windows 11:
- Intel i9 11th Generation Processors – 11900 Series
- Intel i9 12th Generation Processors
- Does Intel Core i7-7700HQ support Windows 11?
- Intel i7-7700T processors not compatible with Windows 11
- KB5008353 optional update for enhancing Windows 11 performance
Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.