Intel has formally killed off its “unique” CPU packing containers for its twelfth Gen Core i9-12900K, one of many greatest CPUs, and the Core i9-10980XE, the HEDT flagship, from three years in the past. As a substitute, Intel will exchange the packaging for every CPU mannequin with the identical smaller packing containers as their non-flagship Core i9, i7, and i5 counterparts. Intel will start implementing these modifications by September 4.
The Core i9-12900K field is getting the only replace of the 2, with its “unique” 164 x 130 x 139mm gold wafer field getting changed with the identical field as different Alder Lake Core i9 fashions missing an Intel cooling resolution. This new field measures 116 x 44 x 101mm. Do not forget that this alteration is for the usual Core i9-12900K variant alone. The particular version Core i9-12900KS will retain its unique packaging, that includes a chip-exclusive darkish blue theme.
Essentially the most stunning twist is the field change of Intel’s almost out of date Core i9-10980XE 18-core flagship from virtually 4 years in the past. Intel’s final HEDT platform remains to be in manufacturing and wishes a field artwork change proper now for cost-cutting causes. Just like the Core i9-12900K, the core i9-10980XE field will shrink from its current 138 x 138 x 61mm bundle into the smaller 116 x 44 x 101mm packaging from its non-flagship counterparts. However, the black and gold field artwork will stay the identical to remain in step with the “Excessive Version” lettering on the chips mannequin title.
The field artwork change for the Core i9-12900K is not stunning. Intel has achieved this habitually over the previous few CPU generations, killing off the flagship field artwork simply earlier than releasing a brand new technology of CPUs, Raptor Lake, that will come out in October. Intel in all probability does this to make sure the next-generational CPU field artwork stands out a lot as potential.
However, the Core i9-10980XE’s field artwork change is kind of puzzling given the structure’s age. Intel has forgotten concerning the HEDT platform since Cascade Lake debuted in 2019, leaving AMD to dominate the house with its Ryzen Threadripper CPUs. So as a substitute, the corporate has relegated itself to its mainstream platform and build up core counts on that entrance as a substitute.
However, there’s a probability this Core i9-10980XE field artwork change is greater than a cost-saving measure from Intel. There have been rumors that Intel will return to the HEDT market comparatively quickly with a brand new structure codenamed Fishhawk Falls (often known as Alder Lake-X).
This new structure can be a copycat of Intel’s earlier HEDT platforms, the place the corporate takes its newest server structure and transforms it right into a high-end client desktop platform. For Fishhawk Falls, that structure can be a HEDT variant of Sapphire Rapids – Intel’s upcoming server structure constructed on the identical Intel 7 node as Alder Lake.
Something past this data is pure hypothesis at this level. However, there’s a probability this information could possibly be real, with the Core i9-10980XE’s field artwork change being the primary signal of Intel returning to the HEDT platform. However that could possibly be some time, with Intel consistently delaying Sapphire Rapids resulting from unexpected bugs.
