Intel today announced its flagship Core i9-1200KS desktop processor, a special edition model of the 1200K. 1200 KS is the world’s first desktop processor to reach a maximum turbo frequency of 6.0GHz out of the box.
The main difference between K and KS is 200 MHz bump on maximum turbo clock speed from an already impressive 5.8GHz to 6.0GHz. This is achieved by binning the silicon, ensuring that only the best parts are made 1200KS. 1200KS has a higher base power limit compared to 125 WK’s 125W while max turbo is limited to 200 W, KS supports Extreme Power Delivery Profile, increasing the power limit to 200W helps achieve higher clock speeds.
While Intel’s statement is entirely true, there are some provisos to getting to that clock speed. While Intel does claim that a standard consumer motherboard using a standard AIO liquid cooler can go to the limit and hit the 6.0GHz figure without any overclocking, Intel’s test video only shows KS reached that number on several P cores in a short time during the 7-Zip benchmark.
This means that not only are you not hitting 6.0GHz on all P cores, but even How well you can achieve that number with just two cores depends on a number of factors.
Other than that, 1200KS is identical to 1200K in all other specifications, including the E core clock and cache count. But 1200 KS should perform better under special cooling conditions for extreme overclocking due to silicon binning. But if that’s not your use case, you’re better off using K.
The 1200 KS is available today for $699.
