Intel Alder Lake, will we need more performing power supplies than in the past?
Intel Alder Lake
FCPOWERUP, a Chinese portal specializing in power supply reviews, has published the power requirements for Intel's 12th Generation Alder Lake chips. Already in the past the site was the first to spread the schematics and photography of NVIDIA's then unreleased 12-pin PCIe power connector, so it can be considered a reliable source.The tables appear to come from one Intel's confidential documents likely directed to power supply manufacturers. The information presumably specifies recommendations for the 12V2 line, which powers the processor. Oddly enough, the table lists the specifications for the 165W, 125W, 65W, and 35W processors. Intel has brought neither Comet Lake nor Rocket Lake into the HEDT world, so we can ignore 165W's recommendations. Furthermore, it is very unlikely that the chip maker will launch Alder Lake in the HEDT format. In any case, this information should be taken as mere rumors pending official confirmation.
The continuous rated currents for the Alder Lake 125W, 65W and 35W models are identical to those of Comet Lake and Rocket Lake. Peak currents, on the other hand, show increases of up to 28% (approximately between 50W and 100W). Peak current refers to the maximum amount of current that can be supplied during short periods of time, while direct current represents the amount of current that is continuously supplied. The peak output for the 125W variant increased from 34A (408W) to 39A (468W), while that from 65W went from 30A (360W) to 38.5A (462W). The energy-efficient 35W one also went from 16.5A (198W) to 20.5A (246W).
Credit: FCPOWERUP / Weibo The transition from Rocket Lake to Alder Lake reveals a 15% higher recommended peak current capacity for the 125W model, 28% for the 65W model, and finally 24% higher % for the 35W one. The duration depends on the PL4 of the processor. Intel specifies that the 12V2 should be able to deliver a peak output for 10ms. Again, it is important to point out that only the peak current values have increased since those of the direct current have remained intact. This information is important for power supply manufacturers to ensure their products conform to the power specifications of upcoming Alder Lake chips. Power supplies with a single-rail design offer everything through a single 12V line. The problem involves older multi-rail power supplies where their 12V lines still adhere to the 20A (240VA) output limit. By default, the overcurrent protection (OCP) is set to 30A and will activate for loads above 30A.
Basically, what does this mean for future Alder Lake owners? FCPOWERUP noted that consumers may need to add between 50W and 100W to their power budget, depending on the exact model of the Alder Lake processor.
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Intel NUC 12: next-gen Alder Lake CPU + 16GB Xe-HPG DG2 GPU + DP2.0
Intel's next-gen NUC is going to be an even bigger pocket rocket of portable PC performance, with the next-gen Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast teased with some damn good technology inside.
The new NUC 11 Enthusiast would be offered in multiple configurations, starting with an Intel Core i5 + 8GB GPU, Core i5 + 12GB GPU, and Core i7 + 16GB GPU. The GPUs in question are based on the Intel Xe-HPG DG2 family of discrete graphics cards, which are Intel's upcoming graphics cards for gamers.
Intel's current flock of NUC 11 Extreme PCs rock Tiger Lake CPUs and have the size inside for a full-sized graphics card, but the new Intel NUC 12 Extreme... well now, the Xe-HPG GPU with varying VRAM amounts and DisplayPort 2.0 which is capable of 4K 240Hz, 8K 120Hz, and 16K 60Hz? Hell yeah.
Intel's new NUC 12 Enthusiast PC will pack HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.0, and a Mini DisplayPort 2.0 connector -- while we'll have up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 SO-DIMMs for some huge 64GB workstation mini PC power. You'll be able to throw in 2 x ultra-fast PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSDs -- while you've to Intel 2.5GbE Ethernet and Wireless-AX 411 + Bluetooth 5.x connectivity.
There's up to 330W of power on these NUC 12 Enthusiast PC beasts... which is kinda awesome to see.
