[Wolverine2349]

Does Windows 10 scheduler know to to effectively deal with p cores and e cores on Alder Lake or do you need Windows 11?

I have read many application benchmarks and it seems WIN10 works fine in them for most part and for games, but with multiple programs open, will there be an issues because of the hybrid architecture being that the P and E cores are not the same and could Windows 10 have trouble with that type multi tasking that could cause slow downs or lags or other problems? Or does it know to use fastest cores cause P cores have faster clock speed not unlike some cores on prior Intel chips and Ryzen were faster or slower clock speed despite being the same core type and Windows 10 seemed ok there?

I have noticed with e cores enabled on my 12700K that I just got, Windows 10 21H2 latest build Task Manager has all 8 P cores parked and 4 e cores not parked? There are only 12 threads as I always have hyper threading off as I like all thread to be real cores. Is this normal behavior? Or is it odd and you should have e cores off or use WIN11?

 

[bscool]

Depends on the application you are using. I have 12900k on Strix ddr4 and have Win10 OS and Win11 and in certain apps Win11 is way ahead.

I run Win10 most of the time just because I dont care for Win11.

 

[maestro0428]

No issues here. Up to date Windows 10.

 

[Ichirou]

Don't the E-cores just default to being ordinary cores on W10 and prior?

 

[Piers]

Does Windows 10 scheduler know to to effectively deal with p cores and e cores on Alder Lake or do you need Windows 11?

I wasn't aware there was a major problem. Gamers Nexus did a detailed comparison between Windows 10 and Windows 11 and found, generally, performance was better for Alder Lake on Windows 10. I would post a link but on mobile and the YouTube app is bollocks.

I assume patches have been rolled out to address the deficiencies with Intel's [very Powerlink 2005 titled] Thread Director?

 

[Wolverine2349]

Don't the E-cores just default to being ordinary cores on W10 and prior?

I notice Windows 10 parks the p cores in Alder Lake when installed if E cores are enabled. What does it mean when the core is parked? Does that mean it is just using the e cores and will only activate P cores if it needs them? That would not be good as would it hurt performance? Or is it by design? I mean shouldn't the better cores not be parked?

I remember nearly 10 years ago in early 2012 when I got an Core i7 2600 going from a Core 2 Quad Q9550, Windows 7 had the virtual hyper threaded cores marked as being parked in Performance monitor. So only 4 cores were not parked. And I thought it was because there were only 4 real cores. Yet on laptops with 4 hyper threaded cores, none are marked as parked in WIN10 I have ever seen.

 

[Barry]

What software are you using to see what cores are parked and which ones aren't?

 

[Glottis]

Windows 10 doesn't work correctly with Alder Lake, people who claim over-wise just haven't tested enough games / programs. I ran Windows 10 21H2 with 12700K for a while and from my own personal testing this is what I found:

Assassin's Creed Origins - massive lag spikes and fps drops (something weird was going on with CPU and E cores affinity under Win10)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - sometimes error on launch, if I did manage to get in game then there were fps drops (just like AC:O, CPU affinity with E cores was messed up)
Watch Dogs Legion - doesn't start at all.

All these issues were fixed on Win10 when I disabled E cores, clearly indicating that Win10 doesn't work well with Alder Lake's E cores. Now I'm on Win11 and all of these problems were resolved. I don't know why people need to keep arguing about this when Intel, MS and reviewers said multiple times you need Win11 for full 12th gen support.

 

[gecko991]

Intel and Microsoft worked closely on this, 10 can not manage the E cores properly as it has no instruction on how 11 does.

 

[Wolverine2349]

What software are you using to see what cores are parked and which ones aren't?

Windows Task Manager performance tab with CPU selected in left column and it set to display all logical processors. I hold my mouse cursor over each first 8 cores and it says CPU number and says parked next to on the popup of each one. Is that accurate or is Task Manager not so reliable.

 

[shifted]

Sorry for the slight necro but just thought I would add that Elden Ring has huge issues running on Windows 10 and a 12900k for me. If I leave the e-cores enabled the FPS will take a massive dive all the way down to 0-1FPS and then recover like it is running in fast motion to catch up. It will repeat this every 30 seconds to a minute depending on what I am doing in the game. If I disable the e-coes the game runs perfectly. Just wanted to throw this out there in case people are searching for issues about this since this thread came up when I was searching. I will eventually switch to Windows 11. I just had no idea this was a thing when I built my PC and I don't want to update to Windows 11 without a full reformat.

 

[Wreckedge]

Hi OCers,
Intel #Alder #Lake is not working properly in some very demanding apps on #Windows #21H2. Period.
y-cruncher. Corona Render - most recent known issues.

You've tested on 21H1. Try 21H2. You'll see.

The funniest thing. 21H2 is totally optional after 2-3 days of using Windows 10.
I, by my own, recommended my client to update. Well, all performance went to ****.
Sorry but that's just what I feel.

Funnier. On newest Windows 11 version 12700k and 12900k is demanding more Vcore and thus running hotter.

I do not recommend installing W10 21H2 with Alder Lake. This, like many other updates, is really broken.

 

[cneuhauser]

Hi OCers,
Intel #Alder #Lake is not working properly in some very demanding apps on #Windows #21H2. Period.
y-cruncher. Corona Render - most recent known issues.

You've tested on 21H1. Try 21H2. You'll see.

The funniest thing. 21H2 is totally optional after 2-3 days of using Windows 10.
I, by my own, recommended my client to update. Well, all performance went to ****.
Sorry but that's just what I feel.

Funnier. On newest Windows 11 version 12700k and 12900k is demanding more Vcore and thus running hotter.

I do not recommend installing W10 21H2 with Alder Lake. This, like many other updates, is really broken. View attachment 2553600 View attachment 2553601

So... what you're saying is, both OS are sub-optimal...

 

[maestro0428]

Hmmmm. Seems on 21h2 since November and havent had any issues with my e cores in any of my editing apps. Gotta say Ill be looking more closely though.

 

[postem]

Hmmmm. Seems on 21h2 since November and havent had any issues with my e cores in any of my editing apps. Gotta say Ill be looking more closely though. View attachment 2555889

In theory the software adaptations to work closely with intel thread director are only present on W11, this by far one of the top selling points of w11 to bring new intel users, because, well, w10/11 are almost the same, despite i generally like the new modifications on UI and some other minor improvements, but its nothing drastic as the thread director integration. For these reasons alone i dont belive MS will backport it to w10.

 

[maestro0428]

In theory the software adaptations to work closely with intel thread director are only present on W11, this by far one of the top selling points of w11 to bring new intel users, because, well, w10/11 are almost the same, despite i generally like the new modifications on UI and some other minor improvements, but its nothing drastic as the thread director integration. For these reasons alone i dont belive MS will backport it to w10.

I have heard all about the thread scheduling in Windows 11. Im just not seeing real world gains when moving from Windows 10. As soon as I see more than one bench (photoshop - Puget Systems) that creates more than a 1-3% gain in my editing/productivity apps, Ill switch, but as of right now, I just dont see it. As for gaming, Im not sure the extra cores do anything, but am happy with the performance so far.

Show me the benches!