Intel enhances Alder Lake to give Raptor Lake an exclusive flavor of its own
Codenamed Raptor Lake Intel’s 13th Generation processors build on the foundation laid through Alder Lake, the previous generation of Intel silicon that brought Intel back into the battle with Team Red.
Similar to Alder Lake, the new Intel CPUs are based on the hybrid architecture – the combination of efficiency and performance cores (P-Cores and E-Cores) which split the tasks among them to improve overall performance.
In the same way that Alder Lake was the start of something fresh, Raptor Lake feels like an improvement of those concepts.
Architectural Changes
Similar to their predecessors Raptor Lake CPUs use Intel’s 10nm process (Intel 7) to fabricate, and as with Alder lake, house P and E Cores.
While superficial similarities are not the only thing, a lot of modifications have been made to get as much performance of the architecture as is possible.
To begin, the number of cores has risen significantly. The Core i9-13900K has now become a 24-core processorthat is split into 8 performance cores, each at an initial speed of 3.0GHz with an increase of up to 5.8GHz and sixteen efficiency cores that have the base speed of 2.2GHz which is capable of increasing to 4.3GHz.
The Core i5-13600K comes with six cores of performance that are clocked at 3.5GHz that can be boosted up to 5.1GHz along with eight cores for efficiency that have an initial clock of 2.6GHz and can be revved upwards to 3.9GHz.
The size of the cache has also been increasing. In addition, the Core i9 now has 68MB of cache. This is split into 32MB of L2 cache as well as the L3 cache, which is 36MB. Its Core i5 has 44MB (20MB L2 plus 24MB of L3).
In the end The newer processors come with faster clock speeds, more E-Cores as well as additional L2 caches. This Core i9 chip also benefits from Intel’s Adaptive Boost Technology, which allows the chip to increase to higher speeds based on the headroom that is available.
Both chips support PCIe 5.0 and DDR 5 Memory up to DDR5-5600. Support for DDR4-3200 is included. Raptor Lake also supports existing Alder Lake motherboards, however you may need to think about upgrading on Intel’s Z790 motherboards to get all the features available.
Another aspect to keep in mind the Thread Director technology that is built in the chip. Simply put an internal microcontroller in the enclosure of the chip monitors tasks and assigns them to the right cores.
Technically speaking, the latest chips run fine on Windows 10, but for effective use for the processors you’ll need upgrade up to Windows 11. Intel suggests Windows 11 version 22H2 or higher to get the most efficient results.
Benchmark Rig
- Motherboard – GIGABYTEZ790 AORUS Elite AX
- Cooler – GIGABYTE AORUS Waterforce X 360
- RAM – GIGABYTE AORUS 32GB DDR5-5200 (2 x 16GB)
- Graphics Card TUF Gaming from Asus GeForce 3070 RTX Version OC
- PSU PSU – CORE Reactor 850G Modular Power Supply
- Storage Western Digital WD Black SN 1TB SSD NVMe
- Operating System: Windows 11
Intel Core i9-13900K: A flamboyant warrior with a thirst for power
The Intel Core i9-13900K CPU is best of the bunch of Intel’s Raptor Lake line-up. It’s also the fastest processor you can purchase, however, it comes with some compromises.
The improved performance is at the expense of increased power draw and temperatures. The temperature also rises significantly.
Even with an 380mm liquid cooler temperatures regularly exceed 90C and can even go as high as 100C over long durations.
For clarity, this is the normal behavior and Intel has provisions to allow chips to function at higher temperatures, however this means that you’ll require a large cooler to control them. In the event that you don’t, you could encounter throttles.
After getting this done now, let’s begin our benchmarks by taking the compression test 7-zip. Its Core i9 blazed through the test with a score of score of 184420 in compression tests, and 194019 for decompression tasks.
The next step next is PCMark 10, which is the next PCMark test. This time, the Core i9 scored 15459 points in tests of digital creation, which test the processor using workflows that require video as well as rendering and editing of photos.
In tests of productivity that test the CPU using workloads to write the documents, the Core i9 was rated 11499.
In the test for essentials, which puts the CPU under stress with tasks including web browsing and conference and conferencing, the Core i9 managed a score of 11455.
The next step is Crossmark benchmarks. This Core i9 scored 2785 in the creation of content, and scored 2349 for productivity tasks as well as 2498 for system responsiveness.
To test the game’s performance for us, we tested the Cyberpunk2077 game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Borderlands 3 and Far Cry 6.
In Cyberpunk 2077 our test rig was able to achieve an impressive 92 frames per second on 1920 1080 x 1920 Ultra settings, with DLSS disabled.
Far Cry 6 is a more optimized version of the game Cyberpunk 2077. It can achieve the average to 103 frames per second at the settings of 1920 x 1080 Ultra.
Borderlands 3 was no match against the Core i9, and recorded an average frame rate of 96 frames per second at the Ultra settings of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Shadow of The Tomb Raider was no different and had an average frame-rate of 154 for 1920 1080 pixels Ultra settings With RTX as well as DLSS both disabled.
Although these numbers might appear low, be aware that we’re operating with the Nvidia GeForce the RTX3070.
Combining this CPU with a top GPU like the RTX 3090, or the RTX 4090 will give more impressive outcomes.
Intel Core i5-13600K The mid-tier champ
Right from the beginning it is evident that there is an enormous difference in temperatures between the 13900K i9 as well as the 13600K i5. It’s the Core i5 managed to stay within a comfortable temperature range and recorded a maximum temperature of 76C at full load.
In the compression tests of 7 zips The Core i5-13600K scored 122245 for compression tests while scoring 125209 on decompression tests.
In PCMark 10 we scored 13899 points in test of digital creation. 765 on the essentials test, and the productivity test scored 10740.
In CrossMark this Core processor scored 2382 in CrossMark for activities that require creativity. It scored 2264 on productivity tests , and 2198 for the test for responsiveness.
When testing Cyberpunk 2077 in Cyberpunk 2077, the Core i5 managed an average FPS of 75 when running at 1920 1080 Ultra settings.
Far Cry 6 managed an average of 87 frames per second on 1920 1080 Ultra settings The game Shadow of The Tomb Raider offered an average of just 138 fps at Ultra 1920 1080.
Borderlands 3 produced a constant average of 82 frames per second when using the 1920 x 1080 Ultra resolution.
Do you need to buy the latest Intel processors?
Yes. Based on your budget both Intel Core i9-13900K as well as Intel Core i5-13600K provide lots of value for money.
There are some points to consider. This Core i9 runs hot and draws lots of power, but it is the fastest processor you can get for your money.
Its Core i5, on the contrary, is much cooler, but however, it’s not worth the top performance that Core i9 brings to the table.
Its Core i9 is the enthusiast processor recommended for premium high-end systems where compromise is not an alternative. It will also require a hefty cooler.
Core i5 is a mid-tier rig. Core i5 is for mid-tier equipment, that performs with a balanced mix of efficiency and power.
In any case, you can’t choose between the two options.
Intel has kicked off with the 13th Generation party off with an explosion and is announcing the arrival of many more SKUs scheduled to be released and we can’t wait to see what Intel’s Blue Team has up its sleeves.
The Core i9-13900K costs at 59,399. The Core i5-13600K is going to cost you 33,159.
