Scan 3XS GWP-ME A124C
PC Pro|July 2022
A brilliant content-creation showcase for Intel’s 12th gen Core i9 and Nvidia’s Quadro RTX A4500 graphics
JAMES MORRIS
Scan 3XS GWP-ME A124C

PRICE £3,333 (£4,000 inc VAT) from scan.co.uk

In recent years, Intel surrendered its long-held dominance in the AMD. But now the regular Threadripper has been discontinued in favour of the feature-rich but more expensive Threadripper Pro, Intel is clawing its way back. The 12th generation of Intel Core processors, codenamed Alder Lake, has undeniably strong qualities - particularly for workstations and high-end desktops. And Scan's 3XS GWP-ME A124C shows just how much Alder Lake has to offer content-creation professionals.

The central element of the A124C is its Core i9-12900K processor, which is one rung below the top 12900KS model. The novelty with Alder Lake is that it has two types of cores:P high-performance cores and E power-efficient cores. Only P cores support Hyper-Threading, so while the 12900K has 16 cores, it presents 24 threads. Clock frequencies are also different, with the 12900K's P cores set at a nominal 3.2GHz with 5.1GHz boost, while the E cores start at 2.4GHz with a 3.9GHz max. The P cores also offer a 5.2GHz turbo capability.

This array of frequencies and features makes perfect sense for content creation. Software packages in this space either favour fewer cores with high frequencies, or they like lots of cores. Broadly speaking, 3D modelling, video editing and photo editing would be the former, and 3D rendering the latter. The i9-12900K offers the best of both these worlds.

Massive memory

Denne historien er fra July 2022-utgaven av PC Pro.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra July 2022-utgaven av PC Pro.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA PC PROSe alt
Key things to look for when buying a mini PC
PC Pro

Key things to look for when buying a mini PC

Buying a mini PC isn't like buying a laptop or a fully fledged desktop PC, but a pitfall-laden experience that sits somewhere in between

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2024
BRANDS YOU CAN TRUST
PC Pro

BRANDS YOU CAN TRUST

Whenever you buy something in the coming year, why not draw on the experience of thousands of discerning buyers?

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2024
5 things we learned from Lenovo Tech World'24
PC Pro

5 things we learned from Lenovo Tech World'24

In a landmark event where the CEOs of AMD, Intel and Nvidia all took to the stage, the theme of \"smarter AI for all\" was never far away, writes Tim Danton

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2024
The Darktrace leading to government
PC Pro

The Darktrace leading to government

British security firm Darktrace has been mired in controversy. Now its former CEO is a government minister. Rois Ni Thuama and Barry Collins investigate

time-read
9 mins  |
December 2024
Microsoft is doing more harm to Arm than good, argues Jon Honeyball
PC Pro

Microsoft is doing more harm to Arm than good, argues Jon Honeyball

You know that sinking feeling you get when something is not quite right? That nagging doubt that it shouldn't be like this? It was like that when I read that Qualcomm has cancelled its Snapdragon X developer kit, a desktop Mac mini-like box designed for developers to create and test apps for Windows on Arm (WoA).

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
How do we know how smart AI really is?
PC Pro

How do we know how smart AI really is?

Maths questions. Silly word puzzles. Counting the letter \"r\" in a sentence. Nicole Kobie reveals how we're trying to work out exactly how intelligent AI is

time-read
7 mins  |
December 2024
Missed call Whatever happened to the Acorn Communicator?
PC Pro

Missed call Whatever happened to the Acorn Communicator?

When Acorn launched its 16-bit Communicator computer with a built-in modem, it struggled to get potential buyers to listen, as David Crookes explains

time-read
9 mins  |
December 2024
STEVE CASSIDY-"Getting workers to do simple jobs in the 16th century was not much different from the 21st"
PC Pro

STEVE CASSIDY-"Getting workers to do simple jobs in the 16th century was not much different from the 21st"

Why 16th century \"networking\" legislation still has an impact, and why the term AI is confusing to punters as well as a waste of natural resources

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2024
JON HONEYBALL -"The more I have to do with UK telcos, the more broken their systems seem to be"
PC Pro

JON HONEYBALL -"The more I have to do with UK telcos, the more broken their systems seem to be"

After being tempted by the iPhone 16 Pro Max - for professional reasons, honest - and the Watch 2 Ultra, Jon discovers not everything is perfect in Apple's new generation

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2024
Apple iPhone 16 Pro
PC Pro

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

A bigger display, borrowed 5x tetraprism zoom from the Max and no price hike make this the best iPhone

time-read
7 mins  |
December 2024