INTEL

Intel Raptor Lake Refresh will be worse than the youtubers claimed. Exact specs are out

With the new generation of Intel desktop processors for the LGA 1700 platform based on the Raptor Lake chip refresh, it seems to be heading towards release. Intel usually leaks specs earlier than AMD, and although the release will be around October, Benchlife.info has already found specs for the flagship Core i9-14900K, i7-14700K and i5-14600K models. This confirms the increase in the number of cores, but also the frequencies, which may not be as high as someone expected.

Benchlife showed a spec sheet for the Core i9-14900K, i7-14700K, and i5-14600K processors, which could be the core of Intel’s lineup this fall (along with the KF models, which are the same without integrated graphics at a slightly lower price). The data is detailed, including how the various boosts are scaled, so it appears to be taken directly from Intel’s documents.

Benchlife states that theoretically, the parameters can still change, since the processors have not yet entered the stage of qualification samples, which already have the final parameters. However, it is highly likely that there will be no big changes and the frequencies will not rise again, as the closure of the QS parameters of the samples is probably close. It should be a significantly more reliable source than the numbers given by YouTubers, which are probably much more based on non-specific rumors or even just speculation.

Core i9-14900K: Finally “only” 6.0 GHz...If we start with the most powerful Core i9-14900K model, then as expected it has 8 large P-Cores and 16 E-Cores (32 threads in total, so roughly comparable to a hypothetical non-hybrid CPU with 16 P-Cores) and 36MB of L3 cache. The Raptor Lake chip does not allow more. The TDP remained at 125W, but PL2 (maximum turbo consumption) has not yet been revealed.

Intel has not added cores to this processor, but at least it will raise the base frequency of the P-Core cores by 200 MHz to 3.4 GHz. And boosts are to increase by up to 200 MHz. It looks like the big P-Cores will have an all-core boost frequency of 5.7GHz versus the i9-13900K’s 5.5GHz. That is, it can probably already be done with the use of Thermal Velocity Boost, otherwise the all-core boost could probably be lower. On the preferred cores (probably two again), the processor can then reach 5.8 GHz using Turbo Boost Max 3.0. And finally, if Thermal Velocity Boost is active (i.e. at a temperature lower than 70 °C, although sometimes boards can probably ignore it), the frequency reaches up to 6.0 GHz. That’s the maximum single-thread boost – 200 MHz higher than the Core i9-13900K. Boost for small cores is a maximum of 4.4 GHz, so it only increased by 100 MHz.

So it looks like the Core i9-13900K will basically match the limited Core i6-13900KS model, but won’t get any higher. Youtuber Moore’s Law is Dead recently reported that behind-the-scenes sources are talking about clocks of up to 6.2GHz (previously even higher targets were speculated), but that doesn’t seem realistic. If the frequency is to rise above the magical 6.0 GHz, some limited Core i9-14900KS model would probably have to come out again. It is a question whether such a one will see the light of day, after all, it will be more difficult to whip up hundreds of additional MHz now.

Core i7–14700K: 8+12 is a reality...The second Core i7-14700K model matches the leaks from Twitter and Bilibili. It is a 20-core / 28-thread, i.e. a CPU with eight P-Core and 12 E-Core. This model will therefore improve multithreading performance and you will get a larger portion of threads than in the previous generation. The L3 cache capacity is 33 MB and the TDP is 125 W. For this model, Intel did not increase the base frequency (still 3.4 GHz as with the i7-13700K).

Otherwise, the boosts on the large cores have increased by 200 MHz – the all-core boost (that is, the frequency possible with all large cores active) should be 5.5 GHz, and the maximum single-thread boost on the preferred cores (Turbo Boost Max 3.0) is already 5.6 GHz. However, the maximum frequency of the small E-Core cores is also only 100 MHz higher – 4.3 GHz.

Core i5-14600K: Still only six P-Cores after all, good news not confirmed?...Unfortunately, the Benchlife information did not confirm what YouTuber RedGamingTech reported, i.e. that the Core i5-14600K will increase the number of cores to 8+8. Instead, it’s still supposed to be a 6+8 core with 20 threads, so no progress. Unfortunately, this suggests that cores may not be added to the Core i5-14400 models and today’s quad-core Core i3s, as RedGamingTech reported along with it.

The Core i5-14600K should again have an unchanged base clock, which will remain at 3.5 GHz. But again, boosts will increase by 200 MHz – i.e. for large cores. All-core boost is now 5.3 GHz instead of 5.1 GHz for the 13600K, maximum single-thread boost is the same 5.3 GHz (also +200 MHz) because this processor does not use preferred cores (Turbo Boost Max 3.0). Here, too, the maximum frequency of the E-Core has increased by only 100 MHz – to 4.0 GHz. The TDP remains 125 W and again we do not know the maximum turbo consumption.

So, in general, what these numbers showed is probably confirmed – Raptor Lake Refresh can increase performance in single-threaded applications and games by about 3-4%, which would correspond to an increase in boosts of 200 MHz. In multi-threaded applications, however, it may be less, as the limits of the maximum turbo consumption could be encountered. The Core i7-14700K will be the only exception; thanks to the added E-Core, it could jump more significantly in multi-threaded performance.

These processors will use existing boards with Intel 600 and 700 series chipsets and may need to update the BIOS first. Some models will also be released (manufacturers have already shown them at Computex), but still with old chipsets (for example, Z790), new ones will only be released with the new LGA 1851 platform and Arrow Lake processors next year.

The release of these processors is currently expected sometime in October. Intel will probably officially announce them at the Intel InnovatiON event, which will be held on September 19-20.

by: Jan Olšan