Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs Specs, Performance, Price, & Availability – Everything We Know So Far

Intel introduced its very first hybrid architecture client CPU platform, codenamed Alder Lake, late last year. The new platform brought with it much-needed improvements to performance and x86 efficiency, especially in the multi-threaded segment. The Alder Lake lineup is currently shipping in all segments on desktop and mobile platforms but the 12th Gen family will soon be succeeded by its 13th Gen successor known as Raptor Lake.

Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs - Refining Alder Lake With More Cores, More Hybrid Goodness!

[Launched - 20/10/22]

On paper, Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs look to be an optimized version of the 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs. They will be based on the same 10nm ESF 'Intel 7' process node, utilize the same P-Core & E-Core design, & will be supported on existing motherboards. But there's a lot that's changing with Raptor Lake and we are going to detail everything, from official details to rumored information that we know about Alder Lake so far and what you could expect from Intel's next desktop lineup which will be pitted right against AMD's next Ryzen CPU lineup for desktops too.

Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs Features:

• Up To 24 Cores & 32 Threads
• Brand New Raptor Cove CPU Cores (Higher P-Core IPC)
• Based on 10nm ESF 'Intel 7' process node
• Up To 6.0 GHz clock speeds (expected)
• Double The E-Cores on certain variants
• Increased Cache for both P-Cores & E-Cores
• Supported on existing LGA 1700 motherboards
• New Z790, H770, and B760 motherboards
• Up To 28 PCIe Lanes (PCH Gen 4 + Gen 3)
• Up To 28 PCIe Lanes (CPU Gen 5 x16 + Gen 4 x12)
• Dual-Channel DDR5-5600 Memory Support
• 20 PCIe Gen 5 Lanes
• Enhanced Overclocking Features
• 125W PL1 TDP (Flagship SKUs)
• AI PCIe M.2 Technology
• Q4 2022 Launch

Intel 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs Specifications

So starting with the specifications, Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs will utilize the hybrid core design, featuring a mix of Performance-Optimized 'P' and Efficiency-Optimized 'E' cores. For the new chips, Intel will be using a brand new P-Core known as Raptor Cove which will replace the Golden Cove cores featured on the Alder Lake CPUs. For The E-Core, Intel will retain the existing Gracemont core architecture but it will come with minor improvements.

The architecture has seen several optimizations and key refinements that have led to an increase from 16 cores and 24 threads to 24 cores and 32 threads. The new 10nm ESF (Intel 7) process retains Intel's clock leadership, pushing the chips up to 5.8 GHz (up to 6 GHz on the KS variant).

Intel’s Raptor Lake will be built using the company’s new E and P cores, you can read the architectural deep dive over here, and represent a significant evolution in the company’s power efficiency targets. It will be built on the Intel 7 process and scale from 9 watts to 125 watts. DDR5 and PCIe gen5 will be supported (first to market) and feature new technologies like the Intel Thread Director.

Raptor Lake will be fully scalable from Desktop (LGA1700) to ultra-mobile. Interestingly, however, while the platform has 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, only the P-cores will support hyperthreading making for a total of 32 threads available. The integrated GPU will have 96 EUs of Xe architecture (good but nothing to write home about) but the thing that impressed us the most was the fact that Intel is claiming a 20% IPC uplift over Rocketlake.

Raptor Lake will feature up to 35 MB of noninclusive LL Cache and support DDR5-5200, LP5-5600 DDR4-3200, and LP4x-4266. It will also support two times the PCIe bandwidth thanks to its support of PCIe 5 and will be able to provide up to 16 lanes of PCIe Gen5 with up to 64 GB/s. The new design is fully modular and built like lego and should be completely scalable and flexible. The compute fabric interconnect has a bandwidth of 1000 GB/s while the IO fabric has a BW of 64 GB/s. The memory subsystem supports up to 204 GB/s but more importantly can scale memory frequency (and power) according to the need of the SoC.

Intel Core i9-13900K 24 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

The Intel Core i9-13900K is the flagship Raptor Lake CPU, featuring 24 cores and 32 threads in an 8 P-Core and 16 E-Core configuration. The CPU is configured at a base clock of 3.0 GHz, a single-core boost clock of 5.8 GHz (1-2) cores, and an all-core boost clock of 5.5 GHz (all 8 P-Cores). The CPU features 68 MB of combined cache and a 125W PL1 rating that goes up to 253W. The CPU can also consume up to 350W of power when using the "Unlimited Power Mode" which we detailed here.

• Core i9-13900K 8+16 (24/32) - 3.0 / 5.8 GHz - 66 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i9-12900K 8+8 (16/24) - 3.2 / 5.2 GHz - 30 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 241W (PL2)

2 of 9

Intel Core i7-13700K 16 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

The Intel Core i7-13700K CPU will be the fastest 13th-Gen Core i7 chip on offer within the Raptor Lake CPU lineup. The chip features a total of 16 cores and 24 threads. This configuration is made possible with 8 P-Cores based on the Raptor Cove architecture and 8 E-Cores based on the Grace Mont core architecture. The CPU comes with 30 MB of L3 cache and 24 MB of L2 cache for a total combined 54 MB cache. The chip was running at a base clock of 3.4 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The all-core boost is rated at 5.3 GHz for the P-Cores while the E-Cores feature a base clock of 3.4 GHz and a boost clock of 4.3 GHz.

• Core i7-13700K 8+8 (16/24) - 3.4 / 5.3 GHz - 54 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i7-12700K 8+4 (12/20) - 3.6 / 5.0 GHz, 25 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 190W (PL2)

2 of 9

Intel Core i5-13600K 14 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

The Intel Core i5-13600K features a total of 14 cores which include 6 P-Cores based on the Raptor Cove and 8 E-Cores based on current Gracemont cores. That's the same P-Core count as the Intel Core i5-12600K but the E-Core count has been doubled. So we are looking at a 40% core count bump and a 25% thread count bump vs the Alder Lake Core i5-12600K. The CPU comes with 24 MB of L3 and 20 MB of L2 cache for a combined total of 44 MB cache. Clock speeds are set at 3.5 GHz base, 5.2 GHz boost, and 5.1 GHz all-core boost while the E-Cores operate at 3.5 GHz base & 3.9 GHz boost clocks.

• Core i5-13600K 6+8 (14/20) - 3.5 / 5.1 GHz - 44 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) /181W (PL2)
• Core i5-12600K 6+4 (10/16) - 3.6 / 4.9 GHz - 20 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 150W (PL2)

2 of 9

Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Family:

Intel 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs Performance

Intel hasn't shared any detailed performance numbers of the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU family yet but based on what we know, we can expect around a 10-15% uplift in gaming performance and 15-25% gains in multi-threading performance. These are just estimates and the final CPU performance could be much better. Intel's main aim with Raptor Lake is to tackle the 3D V-Cache and the Zen 4 CPUs. AMD has already touted its Ryzen 7 5800X3D as the best gaming processor right now so we can expect Zen 4 and its 3D variants to take that lead further up. The Ryzen 5 7600X is said to beat the Core i9-12900K in gaming at just $299 US.

2 of 9

A demo showcasing the benefits of the extra cores was shown by Intel during Investors Day '22 which revealed how the E-Cores can offload the work in Blender and leave the 16 P-Core threads available for other tasks. The Raptor Lake chip used within the demo is an ES part running at lower clock speeds and at a base TDP of 125W and was able to outperform the Core i9-12900K (though we don't know if the Alder Lake chip was also running at base TDP of its max TDP). Nevertheless, it looks like those extra cores are going to deliver some nice uplift in performance overall. The recent rumors have highlighted clock speeds as high as 5.8 GHz for the top parts which will be insane to see on the desktop PC platform.

Over the course, several benchmarks of Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900 have leaked out, showing promising performance that's well ahead against AMD Ryzen 5000 and Intel 12th Gen CPU lineup in multi-threaded and delivers a good beating in single-threaded workloads too. The final performance is looking to be highly competitive when compared to existing parts and also shows good competition versus AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs.

Intel 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs LGA 1700 Platform

Intel is sticking with its LGA 1700 platform for at least one more CPU lineup and that's Raptor Lake. Chipzilla confirmed that Raptor Lake CPUs will be compatible with the existing LGA 1700 motherboards based on the 600-series chipset. But like each generation, motherboard makers will be offering a brand new lineup of motherboards based on the 700-series chipset which will come with higher I/O lanes. In addition to that, Raptor Lake chips will be supporting DDR5-5600 speeds which is a nice bump over the native DDR5-5200 speeds that Alder Lake supports.

This offers a nice upgrade path to users who are currently running a mainstream Core i3 or Core i5 CPU and want to upgrade to a higher-end chip. They can simply replace their existing 12th Gen CPU with a higher-end Core i7 or Core i9 SKU which will increase the overall performance of their PC.

Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison

The 13th Gen CPU will also feature enhanced overclocking capabilities. Alder Lake currently goes up to 5.5 GHz with the upcoming Core i9-12900KS SKU which is rated at a maximum power rating of up to 260W, the highest ever on the mainstream platform.

There's also a new AI M.2 module support that's supported by Raptor Lake CPUs and could have something to do with PCIe Gen 5 SSD support. The AI module could automatically detect a PCIe Gen 5 SSD and set the protocol of the M.2 slot to the newer standard though we have to learn more details about it. But as per the latest information we have, there doesn't seem to be any storage Gen 5 lanes coming directly from the CPU, and motherboard makers would have to split discrete GPU (x16 lanes) with M.2 storage ports to enable Gen 5 SSD support.

Intel 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs Pricing

Intel's pricing strategy starting its 12th Gen Alder Lake lineup has been very aggressive and that has definitely helped them sell enough units to start making a dent in AMD's Ryzen market share. Segments such as the Core i5 and Core i7 are showing up in the 'Top 10 Sellers' on several NA & EU-based retailers.

Each segment has featured a disruptive price point and it is likely that Intel won't be adjusting or moving their prices up considering that they have a formidable opponent on the horizon in the form of the Ryzen 7000 series. As such, we can expect the 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs to adopt the same prices as Alder Lake. Considering that there's a $150-180 US gap between the top Core i9 and Core i7 SKUs, we can see Intel slot in two Core i9 SKUs, one with 16 cores & the other with 24 cores for its next-gen lineup.

Intel 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs Launch & Availability

As for launch and availability, the Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs are expected to launch alongside the 700-series chipset family on the 27th of September, 2022. The following is the latest embargo for 13th Gen CPUs:

Raptor Lake-S Processors and Intel® Z790 Chipset: Enthusiast Consumer K and KF SKUs only

• Product Introduction Embargo Date: 27 Sep 2022 @ 09:20 am PT (Intel Innovation’22)
• Sales Embargo Date: 20 Oct 2022 @ 06:00am PT m

The shelve launch is positioned for 20th October which will be around a month after the next-gen AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Both AMD & Intel are known to push out their premium offerings first before moving into the mainstream/budget segment so expect Intel to introduce 'K' unlocked parts and Z790 boards before venturing into the non-K lineup.

Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison: