Intel’s new ‘Raptor Lake’ CPUs are finally official as the company’s 13th generation of desktop processors. The new lineup only includes three models these have two variants each.
For the layman, all you should know is Intel’s new 13th generation chips are faster while also being (as per Intel’s claims) more efficient than their predecessors. You can buy and install these chips in your existing Intel 12th Gen motherboards without having to buy a separate motherboard.
Most of the terminology used in the rest of this article is technical so proceed with caution if you aren’t familiar with them.
What’s New?
The new generation continues the same hybrid architecture design of the 12th gen but brings 15% better single-threaded performance and up to 41% improved multithreaded performance, according to Intel’s claims. The Core i9-13900K and its iGPU-less variant, the 13900KF, sit at the top of the line with beastly specifications.
The Core i9-13900K has 8 performance (P) cores, 16 efficiency (E) cores (without Hyper-Threading), and 32 threads. The P cores can boost up to a whopping 5.8GHz and the E cores go up to 4.3GHz. The base power is at 125W with a max Turbo power of 253W and there is 32 MB of L2 cache.
Going one step below the ladder, the Core i7-13700K has 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores with 24 threads. The L2 cache sits at 24 MB and the L3 cache is rated at 30 MB. The performance cores can hit up to 5.4GHz and the E cores can reach 4.2GHz. Its base power and turbo power are the same as the i9 model at 125W and 253W respectively.
The image below shows detailed specifications for the new models. It also shows the pricing for the new chips, which are surprisingly lower than the latest AMD processors (Ryzen 7000 series).
All new CPUs will feature 20 PCIe lanes (up to 16 PCIe 5.0 + 4 PCIe 4.0) and will have support for up to DDR5 memory at faster speeds thanks to XMP. All models with built-in GPUs will feature the Intel UHD Graphics 770.
The processors will work with the new Z790 chipset motherboards that were also announced at the same time. They will be compatible with the older 600 series motherboards as well. The new CPUs and motherboards will be available starting October 20.
