Intel Alder Lake's successor, the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU lineup, is going to bring some impressive performance gains to tackle AMD's Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' chips in the third quarter of 2022.
Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Rumors: Up To 15% Single & 40% Multi-Threaded Performance Gains Over Alder Lake, Q3 2022 Launch To Tackle AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4'
The latest details on Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake lineup come from Moore's Law is Dead reports that we are going to see some big performance gains from the upcoming x86 architecture from the blue team. Now the reason I say big is that Raptor Lake is more or less a refinement of the Alder Lake family, featuring an updated P-Core / E-Core design along with higher clocks.
According to the details, the Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs is going to offer up to a 15% single-thread and a massive 40% leap in multi-threaded performance. From what we know, the Raptor Lake CPUs will be utilizing the brand new Raptor Cove cores which are optimized for performance workloads. Intel will keep 8 P-Cores in its design which will be upgraded to the new core architecture for increased performance while the E-Core architecture will be a slightly refined version of the existing Gracemont cores but the core count will go up from 8 to 16. Hence you get the 24 core (8+16) and 32 thread (16+16) flagship configuration that has been confirmed by Intel during their Investors Day 2022 conference. Intel itself mentioned up to 'double-digit' performance gains with Raptor Lake and considering you are getting double the E-Cores and faster P-Cores, the rumored numbers don't seem out of possibility.
As for the launch, Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake lineup will kick off with the 'S' desktop platform in late Q3 2022 followed by the HX/H/U series mobility chips in Q4 2022. This is similar to the current 12th Gen Alder Lake lineup where the desktop parts were introduced in Q4 2021 and the mobility parts are launching in Q1 2022. The launch will position the 13th Gen CPUs against AMD's Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' parts. Ryzen 7000 is going to find itself in a very interesting position where it's tackling both 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs on one end & soon after launch, it will have to compete against 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs too which are also expected to bring an impressive performance update for both desktop & mobile platforms.
Now there are rumors that AMD will have Zen 5 out by 2023 but those aren't confirmed yet if that's the case, then Ryzen 7000 might not have a long shelve time like the Ryzen 5000 CPUs and AMD could go the competitive route, releasing Zen 5 based Ryzen chips a year or even early after the launch of the upcoming Zen 4 parts.
Here's Everything We Know About Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU Family
Replacing the Intel Alder Lake-S 12th Gen Core family, the Intel Raptor Lake-S lineup will be part of the 13th Gen Core family and feature two brand new core architectures. These architectures will be featuring Raptor Cove as performance cores & an enhanced Gracemont core which will be serving as efficiency cores.
Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Lineup & Configurations
According to previously leaked data, the lineup will consist of three segments that were leaked out in the recent power recommendations. These include the 'K' series enthusiast SKUs rated at 125W, 65W mainstream SKUs, and 35W low-power SKUs. Coming to the top-end variants, we will be getting up to 24 cores followed by 16 core, 10 core, 4 core, and 2 core variants.
It is estimated that for 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, Intel is going to feature 2 MB L2 / 3 MB L3 cache per Raptor Cove core while each Gracemont Cluster will feature 4 MB L2 and 3 MB L3 cache. That's going to give us 36 MB L3 cache across all cores, 16 MB (2x8) for P-cores & 16 MB (4x4) for E-cores. Intel Raptor Lake & Alder Lake CPU Cache Configurations (Rumored):
- Raptor Lake P-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 8 = 24MB)
- Alder Lake P-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 8 = 24 MB)
- Raptor Lake P-Core L2 - 2 MB (2 x 8 = 16 MB)
- Alder Lake P-Core L2 - 1.25 MB (1.25 x 8 = 10 MB)
- Raptor Lake E-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 4 = 12 MB)
- Alder Lake E-Core L3 - 2 MB (2 x 2 = 4 MB)
- Raptor Lake E-Core L2 - 4 MB (4 x 4 = 16 MB)
- Alder Lake E-Core L2 - 3 MB (3 x 2 = 6 MB)
- Raptor Lake Total Cache (L3+L2) = 68 MB
- Alder Lake Total Cache (L3 + L2) = 44 MB
If this ends up being true, we are looking at a 55% increase to the total cache count for Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs. Now AMD will still retain the edge with its standard Non-V-Cache parts that are equipped with 64 MB of L3 cache and 96 MB on the V-Cache SKUs but this would mean that the blue team can recoup its lead quite significantly with the added cache and core count along with a higher clock speed that is expected from a further improved 10ESF (Intel 7) process node. The SKUs are detailed below:
- Intel Core i9 K-Series (8 Golden + 16 Grace) = 24 Cores / 32 Threads / 68 MB?
- Intel Core i7 K-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads / 54 MB?
- Intel Core i5 K-Series (6 Golden + 8 Grace) = 14 Cores / 20 Threads / 44 MB?
- Intel Core i5 S-Series (6 Golden + 4 Grace) = 14 Cores / 16 Threads / 37 MB?
- Intel Core i3 S-Series (4 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 8 Threads / 20 MB?
- Intel Pentium S-Series (2 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 4 Threads / 10 MB?
The enthusiast 125W Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop SKUs will feature Core i9 models featuring up to 8 Raptor Cove cores and 16 Gracemont cores for a total of 24 cores and 32 threads. Intel's Core i7 lineup will consist of 16 core (8+8), Core i5 models will consist of 14 core (6+8) and 10 core (6+4) & finally, we have the Core i3 models which will feature 4 cores but without any efficiency cores. The lineup will also include Pentium SKUs which will feature just 2 Raptor Cove cores. All Core variants will feature a 32 EU (256 core) enhanced Xe integrated GPU. Certain Core i5 and Pentium variants will also come configured with 24 EU and 16 EU iGPUs.
Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake-S & 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Comparison (Preliminary):
| CPU Name | P-Core Count | E-Core Count | Total Core / Thread | P-Core Base / Boost (Max) | P-Core Boost (All-Core) | E-Core Base / Boost | E-Core Boost (All-Core) | Cache | TDP | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 8 | 16 | 24 / 32 | TBA / 5.5 GHz? | TBA | TBA | TBA | 68 MB | 125W (PL1) 228W (PL2) |
TBA |
| Intel Core i9-12900K | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | 3.2 / 5.2 GHz | 5.0 GHz (All Core) | 2.4 / 3.9 GHz | 3.7 GHz (All Core) | 30 MB | 125W (PL1) 241W (PL2) |
$599 US |
| Intel Core i7-13700K | 8 | 8 | 16 / 24 | TBA / 5.2 GHz? | TBA | TBA | TBA | 54 MB | 125W (PL1) 228W (PL2) |
TBA |
| Intel Core i7-12700K | 8 | 4 | 12 / 20 | 3.6 / 5.0 GHz | 4.7 GHz (All Core) | 2.7 / 3.8 GHz | 3.6 GHz (All Core) | 25 MB | 125W (PL1) 190W (PL2) |
$419 US |
| Intel Core i5-13600K | 6 | 8 | 14 / 20 | TBA / 5.1 GHz? | TBA | TBA | TBA | 44 MB | 125W (PL1) 228W (PL2) |
TBA |
| Intel Core i5-12600K | 6 | 4 | 10 / 16 | 3.7 / 4.9 GHz | 4.5 GHz (All Core) | 2.8 / 3.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz (All Core) | 20 MB | 125W (PL1) 150W (PL2) |
$299 US |
Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Platform Details
Other details include a larger L2 cache which will be branded as Intel's own 'Game Cache' for Core CPUs and clock speeds will feature a boost clock bump of 200 MHz so we can expect up to 5.5 GHz boost clocks considering Alder Lake-S Desktop CPUs will top out at 5.3 GHz.
The Intel Raptor Lake-S chips will also support faster DDR5 memory speeds of up to 5600 Mbps (6500 Mbps LPDDR5(X)) along with retaining support for DDR4 memory as reports suggest. It looks like there will be three main dies which will be configured into these SKUs starting with a top 'Large' die consisting of 8 Cove and 16 Atom cores, a 'Mid' die with 8 Core and 8 Atom cores, and lastly, a 'Small' die with 6 Cove cores and no Atom cores.
The 13th Gen CPUs 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. The Intel Raptor Lake lineup will be compatible with the LGA 1700 socket though will utilize all 1800 contact pads and compete against AMD's Zen 4 powered Ryzen 7000 lineup. Expect more info by the mid of 2022 by Intel.
Intel Mainstream Desktop CPU Generations Comparison:
| Intel CPU Family | Processor Process | Processors Cores/Threads (Max) | TDPs | Platform Chipset | Platform | Memory Support | PCIe Support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge (2nd Gen) | 32nm | 4/8 | 35-95W | 6-Series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 2.0 | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge (3rd Gen) | 22nm | 4/8 | 35-77W | 7-Series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2012 |
| Haswell (4th Gen) | 22nm | 4/8 | 35-84W | 8-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2013-2014 |
| Broadwell (5th Gen) | 14nm | 4/8 | 65-65W | 9-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Skylake (6th Gen) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 100-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Kaby Lake (7th Gen) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 200-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (8th Gen) | 14nm | 6/12 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (9th Gen) | 14nm | 8/16 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2018 |
| Comet Lake (10th Gen) | 14nm | 10/20 | 35-125W | 400-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake (11th Gen) | 14nm | 8/16 | 35-125W | 500-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 4.0 | 2021 |
| Alder Lake (12th Gen) | Intel 7 | 16/24 | 35-125W | 600 Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th Gen) | Intel 7 | 24/32 | 35-125W | 700-Series | LGA 1700 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2022 |
| Meteor Lake (14th Gen) | Intel 4 | TBA | 35-125W | 800 Series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2023 |
| Arrow Lake (15th Gen) | Intel 20A | 40/48 | TBA | 900-Series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2024 |
| Lunar Lake (16th Gen) | Intel 18A | TBA | TBA | 1000-Series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2025 |
| Nova Lake (17th Gen) | Intel 18A | TBA | TBA | 2000-Series? | TBA | DDR5? | PCIe Gen 6.0? | 2026 |
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