Intel spoke about the characteristics and prices of three Raptor Lake processors, as well as their versions without an integrated video core. From October 20, chips with a free multiplier Intel Core i5-13600K, Core i7-13700K, Core i9-13900K and analogues with the KF index will go on sale. On the same day, motherboards with the Z790 chipset will also be released. A total of 22 processors are announced on the Raptor Lake architecture, but other models will be introduced later .
The manufacturer promises a productivity increase of up to 15% in single-threaded mode and up to 41% in multi-threaded mode. These improvements come mainly from an increase in the frequency and number of threads. The processors support DDR5-5600 or DDR4-3200 RAM. The new high-performance Intel Z790 platform includes more PCIe 4 lanes and more USB 3.0 Gen 2×2 20Gb/s connectors.
Brief characteristics
| CPU | Price | Cores/Threads (P+E) | P-core frequency | E-core frequency | Cache (L2+L3) | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i9-13900K/KF | $589/$564 | 24/32 (8+16) | 3.0-5.8GHz | 2.2-4.3GHz | 68 MB (32+36) | 125/253W |
| i7-13700K/KF | $409/$384 | 16/24 (8+8) | 3.4-5.4GHz | 2.5-4.2GHz | 54 MB (24+30) | 125/253W |
| i5-13600K/KF | $319/$294 | 14/20 (6+8) | 3.5-5.1GHz | 2.6-3.9GHz | 44 MB (20+24) | 125/181W |
The table shows that Intel managed to keep the price of the two top models compared to the previous generation – only the cost of the Corei5-13600K increased significantly (by $30). Also, all models stayed within the base TDP of 125 Wb, which can be an advantage in the fight against a hot competitor from AMD (Ryzen 9 7900X with 170 W). However, the upper limit for all Ryzens is higher, while Intel Cores have almost 1-1.5 GHz lower base frequency of productive cores. The lower frequency bar is even lower than the Alder Lake processors.
The peak frequency of 5.8 GHz in the Core i9-13900K is a record for the mass segment. Intel also announced that the 6GHz version of the Raptor Lake will be a limited edition and hit the market later this year. It has been confirmed that this is a KS series chip.
The 13th generation processors got more cores. The Core i9-13900K has eight more cores than the i9-12900K by increasing its power-efficient portion. The i7-13700K and i5-13600K chips received 4 additional cores each.
Architectural features
There is nothing fundamentally new in the Raptor Lake device – only optimization. As the company has stated in the past, “We’re only releasing Raptor Lake because Meteor Lake isn’t ready yet.” Intel increased the L2 cache from 1.25 MB to 2 MB per p-core and doubled the L2 cache per cluster of economy cores to 4 MB. L3 cache size has also increased with the addition of more e-core clusters, each with an adjacent L3 cache chunk as part of the design.
Improved support for DDR5 memory up to 5600 MT/s using one DIMM per channel, significantly higher than the previous 4800 MT/s. In two sticks per channel mode, performance increased to 4800 MT/s compared to Alder Lake’s 3600 MT/s.
The company has greatly improved its Intel 7 process technology with faster third-generation SuperFin transistors. This allowed for a more performance advantageous shift in the voltage/frequency curve.
Overclocking
Intel revealed a new per-core overclocking feature now built into the XTU software. The company is also resurrecting the one-click overclocking feature, formerly called Intel Performance Maximizer, but now implemented in XTU.
Intel never released a one-click overclocking utility for Alder Lake, likely due to the difficulty of automatically overclocking both p-cores and e-cores, but the company has apparently addressed these issues. The one-click overclocking option automatically configures both types of cores.
Motherboard compatibility
Raptor Lake and Alder Lake will be compatible with the new 700 series chipsets and existing 600 series motherboards. As always, Intel will bring the flagship Z790 series to market first, while the cheaper B and H series will follow with the rest of the Raptor Lake processors.
The 700 series motherboards have minor improvements over the 600 series. Intel increased the number of PCIe 4.0 lanes to 20, that is, added 8 additional lanes. Added support for another USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port (5 in total). The Raptor Lake processors themselves support 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes and four PCIe 4.0 lanes.
conclusions
The Intel Raptor Lake generation does not bring any significant technical advantage over Alder Lake, but rather a good optimization that allows for better performance. In terms of features and prices, 13th generation Intel Core processors look quite competitive compared to AMD Ryzen 7000. However, their gaming and other tests (except for the values u200bu200bof Intel itself) are not yet available. We will see the winner of the competition after the Raptor Lake goes on sale at the end of October.
The history of Intel of the XXI century – we recall the interesting products of the company before the release of Raptor Lake
Sources: Intel , Tom`s Hardware
