Game-Changing Boost Performance: Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh Set to Revolutionize Computing, Launching this October

Highlights

The slight improvement in performance compared to Raptor Lake can be attributed to a minor increase in clock speeds, resulting in a 1-4% boost according to benchmarks.

Intel has been secretive about its upcoming Raptor Lake Refresh processors, but recent leaks have revealed the clock speeds for the 'non-K' SKUs. It is said that all 'non-K' SKUs in the Intel 14th gen series will have a 200MHz higher boost speed, except for the speculated Core i5-14400 model. Furthermore, the leaks also provide information about the core configurations of different SKUs, indicating that the Core i3 series will continue to have 4 cores.

Intel has surprised users by deviating from their expected launch plan for their next CPUs. Instead of introducing the highly anticipated Meteor Lake chips as their 14th-generation CPUs, they have released a Raptor Lake Refresh for desktop users. Leaked internal benchmarks indicate that the performance boost from Raptor Lake is only marginal.

A reliable source on Twitter has revealed that almost all the non-K SKUs in the 14th-gen lineup will have a higher boost clock speed of 200MHz compared to their 13th-gen counterparts. The Core i9-14900/F, expected to have an 8-performance core + 16-efficiency core configuration, is rumored to achieve a boost clock speed of up to 5.8GHz. Similarly, the Core i7-14700/F, with its 8-performance core + 12-efficiency core configuration, is expected to reach up to 5.4GHz, and so on. Interestingly, the Core i5-14400/F, with a 6+4 configuration, does not receive the same boost, although it will still boast a 4.7GHz clock speed, a 100MHz increase from the Core i5-13400.

The latest leak confirms that the baseline Core i3-14100/F processor will maintain its four performance cores, but it will have a 200MHz higher boost frequency compared to the Core i3-13100.

These slightly increased clock speeds account for the minor performance improvements seen in Raptor Lake. Earlier this month, Igor's Lab provided internal benchmarks for the upcoming Raptor Lake Refresh series, which indicated a modest 1-4% increase in performance. The comparisons showcased synthetic benchmark scores for the Core i9-13900K, presumably pitted against the Core i9-14900K, with both CPUs featuring an 8-performance and 16-efficiency core configuration, similar to their respective predecessors.

Intel's current flagship: The Core i9 13900K

Core i9 13900K

Save $61 on the Intel Core i9, Intel's flagship processor from the Raptor Lake generation. This powerful 24-core, 32-thread processor excels in gaming and various other tasks. It offers compatibility with both PCI-E 4.0 and 5.0, allowing it to work with 700 series motherboards as well as 12th generation motherboards that share the same socket.

Brand: Intel

CPU Model: 13900K

CPU Socket: LGA 1700

Cores: 24

Threads: 32

PCIe 4.0 Support: N/A

Base Clock Speed: 3.0GHz

Boost Clock Speed: 5.8GHz

Cache: 68MB

PCIe Compatibility: PCI-E 4.0 & 5.0

TDP: 253W

iGPU: Yes, Intel® UHD Graphics 770

Price: $569 at Amazon, $570 at Newegg

This news will further disappoint Intel fans eagerly anticipating a genuinely new lineup of CPUs. The expected unveiling of Raptor Lake Refresh in October is reaffirmed by a recent leak from ITHome. A Chinese PC manufacturer teased the upcoming launch of a gaming desktop boasting "a new generation of Intel Core processors and RTX 40 series graphics cards" for the same month. The exact date remains unknown at the moment. It is worth mentioning that Intel has not provided any official timeline for the release of Raptor Lake Refresh, so it's advisable to approach this information with skepticism.