Raptor Lake
Raptor Lake is Intel’s 13th Generation of CPUs manufactured on the ‘Intel 7‘ process node, similar to Alder Lake (12th Gen). The performance cores utilize the Raptor Cove architecture, whereas team blue decided to reuse the Gracemont architecture once more for their 13th Gen efficient cores.
P-Cores = Raptor CoveE-Cores = Gracemont Cove
These CPUs feature support for DDR4-3200/DDR5-5600 memory along with PCIe Gen 5.0. Requiring the same LGA 1700 socket as featured with Alder Lake, Raptor Lake is backwards compatible with the -600 series of motherboards. These CPUs provide 2x as many efficient cores as last Gen.
-i9 Series (13th Gen)
The i9 series features 4 CPUs namely
i9-13900Ki9-13900KFi9-13900i9-13900F
The flagship variant is the i9-13900K powered by 24 Cores/ 32 Threads. As a matter of fact, all i9 SKUs from Raptor Lake feature the same core/thread count where the only difference lies in the iGPU/OC capabilities. Raptor Lake’s kingpin, the 13900K goes up to 5.8GHz across a single core which is faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X’s 5.7GHz. The max frequency across all performance cores is 5.5GHz which is just 200MHz shy of the max single core frequency (exclusive of manual OC). The base TDP for all the i9-K variants is 125W whereas the non-K variants boast a TDP of 65W. This is a bit misleading because when Intel CPUs turbo, the non-K CPUs consume upwards of 200W. The K series on the other hand takes this number up to 250W+.
-i7 Series (13th Gen)
Moving on to the mid ranged i7 family, we see a similar 4 CPU treatment by Intel. These CPUs ship with 16 cores and 24 threads.
i7-13700Ki7-13700KFi7-13700i7-13700F
Here the i7-13700K offers a single core max frequency of 5.4GHz. The base TDP for the i7-K series is is rated at 125W, which mind you, does not equate to actual power consumption as stated above.
-i5 Series (13th Gen)
For the budget segment, the i5 series offers 6 CPUs, however, this list only shows 4.
i5-13600Ki5-13600KFi5-13600Fi5-13500i5-13400Fi5-13400
(CPUs listed in Italic are not included in the ‘leaked’ list) The i5-13600K is the budget gamer’s fantasy. Shipping with a massive 14 core / 20 thread configuration, Intel leaves no loose end in terms of performance. However, if you’re looking for something in the sub $250 category, the i5-13400F may suit your liking. This CPU packs a punch with its 10 cores paired with the 4.6GHz max single-core frequency.
Release Date
Recently, we came across a slide that leaked the announcement/launch date for Intel’s 13th Gen CPUs. You can read more about this here. The live-event will take place on the 27th of September and the CPUs will hit the shelves by the 20th of October this year.
