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Winows 11 has truncated Core processors prior to the 7th generation. The reason is that security cannot be guaranteed. I can't help mourning, so I'm trying Alder Lake, which debuted in the fall of 2021, for the transition. And the more you use it, the more comfortable it becomes, and you realize that the 6th generation Core i7 six years ago was pretty amazing. ■ Procurement of hardware without adventure even if it is luxurious Each person uses a PC differently. The apps I use regularly are also different. Personally, the desktop PC that I used for active duty until recently was a Core i7 6950X machine that I made myself in the summer of 2016, equipped with 32GB memory, Radeon RX 480 as GPU, 480GB SATA SSD as system drive. .. I've been using it in this environment for almost 6 years. Compared to the environment of the 12th generation Core i9 machine called Alder Lake, which is used in an awkward state because the settings etc. have not been decided yet, the self-made PC that I have been using for the past 6 years without changing the configuration is not inferior. Especially, I'm a little surprised. This time, the hardware prepared for the evaluation of the latest environment has the following configuration. -Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K-Board: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO-Memory: Crucial 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) DDR5-4800 UDIMM-SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 1000GB Gen4 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD 1TB, Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 2TB Like last time, I want you to work stress-free for the next 6 years, so don't compromise. Also, I don't want to worry about strange adventures with parts. That's why I chose parts from a well-known vendor's proven brand. If this is the case, it is easy to obtain trouble avoidance information even if something happens. If there is any future, it will be more memory. This is the same when I made it 6 years ago, and I increased the memory from 16GB at the beginning to 32GB. I just hope that there will be no trouble with installing another lot of memory. ■ The engine of the car is just right to fly in the sky It is easy to see the result of the benchmark test to compare the processing performance of his PC. However, the experience when actually using it seems to be a little different from the benchmark value. Even though the order doesn't change, the feeling of n times doesn't come to my mind. When I did a clean install of the OS, applied various updates, installed regular apps, and started doing my usual work as usual, I felt it wasn't that fast, if you're not afraid of misunderstandings. It was that. I didn't feel that the sound of hitting it was so different from that of a PC six years ago. But it was myself that hadn't changed. What I do six years ago hasn't changed much. The only major changes are that the connected display is now in 4K resolution, the video content to be played is 4K, and the music is in stream playback Ultra HD. The bandwidth of the internet connection hasn't changed either. The apps I use are Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud apps, as well as web browsers and text editors. If you display 2 contents of YouTube 4K video in full screen on a PC 6 years ago and check it with the task manager, you can see that the CPU is being used hard. If this is the 12th generation Core, it will operate almost normally and will not have any impact. The CPU usage in the 6th generation Core is close to full, but in the 12th generation Core it is only a few percent. I also found that I didn't use the GPU unexpectedly. It's not a big deal. In any case, I am keenly aware that the CPU should be a high-spec one. Because it was a high-end product at that time, it can still be used without any inconvenience. We've also found that built-in graphics may be sufficient if you're not playing games, but there's still more to verify. In particular, I often don't know about the multi-display environment with several 4K displays. I want to report later. With the 6th Generation Core, if you try to do a lot of things at the same time, switching tasks is subtly slow, and if you are trying to encode video, the GPU usage is 100% and it sticks to the ceiling. Still it works properly. Not so with the processor, but no matter how you use the CPU or GPU, it takes twice as long to export 4K video in H.264. Every time I do something, I get stuck and I don't feel like doing something else while encoding. Still, if you don't try to do many things at once, you can still do it normally without any particular dissatisfaction with the process. But I personally don't intend to be a YouTuber, so I rarely edit or encode videos to create content. There aren't many tasks that require developing a large number of RAW photos at once. With these tasks, 12th generation Core, there is no sluggishness, and encoding is completed in about the same time as real time. Both CPU and GPU are doing their best, but the usage rate is suppressed to about 80%, and other work can be done normally. I don't care that heavy processing is being executed in the background. It's perfectly fine to listen to Ultra HD music and work with Office apps while playing 4K video on YouTube. There is no stress. I think it's worth it. Moreover, the total cost excluding the video card is almost half the price of 6 years ago. ■ Benchmark test is a very easy-to-understand index for comparing the superiority and inferiority of CPU, GPU, and the environment that integrates them, as I wrote at the beginning. The processing performance of y times that of x n years ago reigns as absolute data. However, benchmark values do not easily convey the index that measures the comfort of a PC as an environment in which individuals face each other. Even if the performance is increased by 10 times, it often doesn't feel that much faster. A common parable is that the Hidemaru editor doesn't get any faster with a new PC. However, as I use it, I notice that raising the level in various scenes enhances the total usability. This time, Windows 11 happened to truncate the old processor, so I tried to migrate with the feeling that it was unavoidable. But if that weren't the case, he would have been trying to use the environment he wasn't particularly dissatisfied with for at least a few years. I'm sure that's why I must have been playing Son in various situations without noticing it myself. Something like a margin that is difficult to point out numerically is probably the new norm for high-performance PCs. It's just a warm old wisdom. The truth is, I want an index that shows that. Making your own PC has become much easier than before. Standardization is more sophisticated and complete than before, and less confusing. Speaking of cars, the engine, transmission, steering, brakes, and other elements for running, turning, and stopping are separately procured and attached to the chassis, and the jacket is put on. However, it does not always give the best results, and although many troubles must be solved at your own risk, even if you are self-satisfied, there is a great sense of accomplishment and you are attached to the PC. Will come to feel. I think this is important for continuing to use the PC. As the way of living and working changes and the existence of PCs for personal life is being reviewed, we would like to establish usability indicators other than gaming and creative.
PC Watch, Shohei Yamada
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