What you absolutely must be aware of?
Today, Intel made the formal announcement of its new portfolio of 13th Generation “Raptor Lake” desktop CPUs. These processors make use of the same big.LITTLE hybrid architecture that was introduced with 12th Generation hardware.
The new central processing units (CPUs) feature a maximum boost clock speed of 5.8 GHz and up to 24 cores, with each core being either performance or efficient.
These central processing units are manufactured using the “Intel 7” technology, which provides enhanced support for memory up to DDR5-5600, an additional USB 3.2 (Gen 2×2) connector, and the latest chipset from Intel, the Z790.
On October 20, you’ll be able to purchase the chips, including the brand-new Z790 hardware.
The price range begins at $294 and goes all the way up to $589 for the most expensive Core i9-13900K model.
Intel has revealed its 13th generation “Raptor Lake” desktop central processing units (CPU) today. The company is starting out with a total of six chips, including i5, i7, and i9 K- and KF-series entries in its lineup.
The new chips are constructed on the same “Intel 7” process that was used to build the 12th Generation hardware (formerly known as 10nm Enhanced SuperFin), and they continue the trend.
A LITTLE hybrid architecture that launched at the same time as the previous generation.
The LGA 1700 socket will continue to be used by Intel’s 13th Generation CPUs, however, these new processors have significant improvements in core count, clock speed, and cache capacity, especially in Intel’s flagship Core i9-13900K processor.
In point of fact, on a recent press tour to Israel, Intel gave a live demonstration in which they proved how the i9-13900K could reach 8.0GHz when it was overclocked using liquid nitrogen. Although this is an insane arrangement, it does imply that real-world overclockers should be able to attain 7.0+ GHz in their own PC builds by using some clever third-party cooling.
Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 graphics are not included in the i9-13900KF model of the Intel i9 desktop CPU, which Intel refers to as the “world’s fastest desktop processor.” Other than that, the two variants have the same specifications.
Similar to the Core i7-13700K, the Core i5-13600K and the Core i7-13700K both have KF versions that are designed especially for use by PC system builders.
13th Generation Intel against 12th Generation Intel
The following is a comparison of the specifications of Intel’s 12th Generation CPUs with those of the 13th Generation K-series CPUs:
CPU | Cores | Threads | Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | P / E Core Max Turbo | L3 / L2 Cache | Base / Max TDP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Core i9-13900K | 24 (8P + 16E) | 32 | Up to 5.7GHz (5.8Ghz ceiling) | Up to 5.4GHz / 4.3GHz | 36MB / 32MB | 125W / 253W |
Core i9-12900K | 16 (8P + 8E) | 24 | Up to 5.2GHz | Up to 5.1GHz / 3.9GHz | 30MB / 14MB | 125W / 241W |
Core i7-13700K | 16 (8P + 8E) | 24 | Up to 5.4GHz | Up to 5.3GHz / 4.2GHz | 30MB / 24MB | 125W / 253W |
Core i7-12700K | 12 (8P + 4E) | 20 | Up to 5.0GHz | Up to 4.9GHz / 3.8GHz | 25MB / 12MB | 125W / 190W |
Core i5-13600K | 14 (6P + 8E) | 20 | N/A | Up to 5.1GHz / 3.9GHz | 24MB / 20MB | 125W / 181W |
Core i5-12600K | 10 (6P + 4E) | 16 | N/A | Up to 4.9Ghz / 3.6GHz | 20MB / 9.5MB | 125W / 150W |
Upgrading its Intel 7 manufacturing process for Performance cores was a major focus for Intel. This upgrade included improving speed paths and channel mobility, providing the cores with a higher clock speed, and providing a larger L2 cache with 2 MB per core in addition to an improved prefetcher algorithm.
In a similar fashion, Intel increased the number of Efficient cores across the board and made all of them significantly quicker while also improving their optimization compared to the previous generation.
The i9-13900K has an increased core count of 24 compared to the i9-12900total K’s of 16, thanks to the addition of 16 Efficient cores while leaving the number of Performance cores the same at 8. Additionally, the overall number of threads increases to 32 from the previous 24. In addition, the Core i7-13700K increases the number of Efficient cores from four to eight, bringing the total number of threads to 24, and the Turbo Boost frequency to 5.4 GHz.
The Core i5-13600K now includes 8 Efficient cores in addition to its 6 Performance cores. This processor now has 20 total threads and a Max Turbo P-core frequency that can reach up to 5.1GHz.
When comparing the performance of the i9-13900K to that of the i9-12900K, Intel claims that performance gains will reach up to 15% in single-threaded operations and up to 41% in multi-threaded tasks respectively. However, maintaining a TDP of 241W in both CPUs reveals a performance increase of 37% even with the new chip’s higher power consumption of 253W. Even with the power consumption reduced to 115 watts, the multi-thread performance of the brand new Core i9-13900K has been shown to improve by up to 21%. The i9-13900K eventually reaches parity with the i9-12900K, which operates at 241W, when it reaches 65W.
When compared to the i9-12900K, Intel asserts that the new i9-8950HK offers up to a 24% improvement in gaming performance and a 34% improvement in creative workflow performance when utilizing popular applications.
These benefits improve when compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, with up to a 58% boost in performance in Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered as a result of using the Intel i9-13900K processor. When it comes to the production of content, Intel reveals that its i9-13900K processor offers up to a 69% performance improvement over Ryzen’s 9 5950X processor, notably in Autodesk Revit Model Creation.
An enhanced tuning utility is included in the 13th Generation hardware. This utility provides an overview of the performance of each CPU core, as well as overclocking capabilities that can be activated with a single click. This makes the process as simple as it can be for anyone who wants a little bit more power.
The same is true when it comes to overclocking the RAM using Intel’s inbuilt Speed Optimizer. When it comes to memory, 13th Generation systems can now handle up to DDR5-5600MHz memory with just one DIMM per channel or up to DDR4-4400MHz memory with two DIMMs per channel.
In addition, there have been enhancements made to the software that is used for Raptor Lake. Windows 11 22H2 will be able to better prioritize background services and tasks when operating on a 13th Generation Intel processor as a result of some improvements made to Intel’s Thread Director for thread class boundaries. These updates were made to improve performance.
Arik Gihon, the CPU SoC HW Architecture Lead at Intel, stated that Microsoft is “doing tremendous work” with regards to scheduling and Thread Director in an interview that was conducted with Windows Central. However, technology is just getting started, and there is a lot of possibility for improvement.
An application that is running in the background using the E-cores could use free P-cores to complete a task without the user having to bring the app back to the forefront of their attention. This particular example of Thread Director was given by Tomer Sasson, VP, Platforms Execution General Manager in Client Computing Group.
At the moment, Windows and Thread Director will only utilize the P-cores for applications that are currently in focus by the user, which indicates that these programs have a higher processing priority. However, when an application is set to run in the background, it will only use the E-cores available to it unless the user switches the active window. Even though there is no estimated time of completion for the proposed move that was discussed before, it is obvious that Intel is contemplating adding many more improvements to Thread Director in order to make it even better in the future.
The Intel 13th Generation
The Z790 chipset is included with Intel’s 13th Generation Core CPUs. It will enable one more USB 3.2 (Gen 2×2) connection, up to 20 PCI Express 4.0 lanes (in comparison to 12 with Intel’s 600-series chipset), fewer PCI Express 3.0 lanes (up to 8 in comparison to 16), and the same number of PCI Express 5.0 lanes (16).
If you are using an older board from the 600 series, upgrading to a CPU from the 13th generation should not present any difficulties. A BIOS update will be necessary, but the same LGA 1700 socket should be able to accommodate the chip without any problems.
CPU | Cores (P-E) | Threads | P/E Core Max Turbo | P/E Core Base | GPU | Unlocked | Price (USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
i9-13900K | 24 (8-16) | 32 | 5.8GHz | 3.0GHz | Intel UHD 770 | ✅ | $589 |
i9-13900KF | 24 (8-16) | 32 | 5.8GHz | 3.0GHz | n/a | ✅ | $564 |
i7-13700K | 16 (8-8) | 24 | 5.4GHz | 3.4GHz | Intel UHD 770 | ✅ | $409 |
i7-13700KF | 16 (8-8) | 24 | 5.4GHz | 3.4GHz | n/a | ✅ | $384 |
i5-13600K | 14 (6-8) | 20 | 5.1GHz | 3.5GHz | Intel UHD 770 | ✅ | $319 |
i5-13600KF | 14 (6-8) | 20 | 5.1GHz | 3.5GHz | n/a | ✅ | $294 |
Beginning on October 20, 2022, 13th Generation Intel Core desktop ‘K’ processors as well as the Intel Z790 chipset will be available in a variety of forms, including packaged CPUs, motherboards, and sales of desktop computer systems.
Pricing begins at $294 for the Core i5-13600KF and tops out at $589 for the Core i9-13900K. The Core i7-13700K with Intel UHD Graphics 770 is priced at $409, and the Core i5-13600KF costs $294.
When compared, the starting price of Intel’s 12th Generation Core i5-12600KF was $264, while the starting price of Intel’s top-tier Core i9-12900K was $589.
Later on, further information on the remaining members of the 13th Generation Intel Core CPU family will be provided.