Intel has announced its 13th Gen Core processors, led by the Core i9-13900K and the Core i9-13900KF. Codenamed ‘Raptor Lake’, Intel claims the latest generation of processors offers up to a 15 per cent increase in single-threaded performance and up to 41 per cent in multi-threaded performance compared to the 12th generation.
The 13th Gen Intel Core processor lineup consists of two i5, two i7 and two i9 processors divided between the K and the KF models. The two i5, i7 and i9 processors are the same when it comes to performance with the only difference being that the KF series does not sport integrated graphics. All Intel 13th Gen K processors are powered by the Intel UHD Graphics 770.
Here’s a quick summary of what Intel is announcing:
- Core i5-13600K : 14 cores (6 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)/20 threads at up to 5.1GHz; P-Core: 3.5GHz (base) to 5.1GHz (turbo); E-core: 2.6GHz (base) to 3.9GHz (turbo)
- Core i7-13700K : 16 cores (8 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)/24 threads at up to 5.4GHz; P-Core: 3.4GHz (base) to 5.3GHz (turbo); E-core: 2.5GHz (base) to 4.2GHz (turbo)
- Core i9-13900K : 24 cores (8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores)/32 threads at up to 5.8GHz; P-Core: 3.0GHz (base) to 5.4GHz (turbo); E-Core: 2.2GHz (base) to 4.3GHz (turbo)
If we compare the 13th Gen processors to the 12th Gen, the newer processors have higher clock speeds with e-cores (efficient cores) ramping up to 4.3GHz while the p-cores (performance cores) feature an updated design and gain 600Hz over the 12th Gen P-cores. The newer generation also increases the L2 cache size. The 13th Gen Intel Core processors will use the same LGA1700 socket used by the previous generation. If you have Z690 and Z790 motherboards, you can simply hot-swap your existing 12th Gen processor with a newer one. This also means that existing 12th Gen CPU coolers will be compatible with the 13th Gen processor lineup.
