Intel Raptor Lake is finally here, and while there are several CPUs in this first wave of 13th-gen CPUs, it’s hard not to focus on the flagship model, the Intel Core i9-13900K. Packed with a seemingly endless number of cores, capable of those ultra-high clock speeds, and compatible with Alder Lake sockets, it ticks most of the boxes when it comes to high-end CPUs.
But the 13900K is mainly a refinement of the 12900K with additional cores. Is it worth buying a Core i9-13900K, or should you buy cheaper with a 12th generation CPU? Below, we’ll compare Intel’s two flagships and help you pick a winner.
Prices and availability
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
As of this writing, the 12900K is down from its starting MSRP of $589 to anywhere between $500 and $550, just like on Amazon where you can find it for around $500. It’s not cheap, though, and there are some AMD and Intel processors that offer better value, but it is what it is. These flagships aren’t meant to be cheap anyway, they’re enthusiast processors meant to deliver.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Core i9-13900K is priced the same as the Core i9-12900K, at least at launch. With the new CPU becoming a de facto option around $600, we expect the Core i9-12900K to slowly drop in price over the next few months. That could make a big difference in which processor you buy, especially if you can get a deal on a state-of-the-art part.
The Core i9-12900K is already available at most retailers, while the Core i9-13900K is likely to sell out before launch and remain in stock for several weeks. However, we don’t suspect any major processor glitches, so we expect prices to return to normal soon after launch.
Glasses
Intel
The Intel Core i9-13900K processor offers some very simple upgrades over the Core i9-12900K. With more cores, higher clock speeds, and a much larger cache, it has what it takes to deliver significantly better performance than the Alder Lake part. Let’s take a look at all the most important specifications.
| Intel Core i9-13900K | Intel Core i9-12900K | |
| cores | 24 (8P+16E) | 16 (8P+8E) |
| neither | 32 | 24 |
| basic class | 3.0 | 3.2GHz |
| turn up the clock | 5.8GHz | 5.2GHz |
| maximum memory speed | DDR5: 5600MTps; DDR4: 3200MTps | DDR5: 4800MTps; DDR4: 3200MTps |
| TDP (base/turbo) | 125W/253W | 125W/241W |
| Intel Smart Cache (L3) | 36MB | 30MB |
| L2 cache | 32MB | 14MB |
One thing to note about Raptor Lake’s eight extra cores is that they are efficiency cores, not performance cores. Otherwise things are pretty simple as these two CPUs have almost identical architecture.
Architecture
igor’s laboratory
In terms of architecture, these two Intel processors are more like brothers than cousins. Both support the same LGA1700 socket and are generally similar in many ways, although the 13th-gen CPU brings a host of upgrades. No real push is expected until the next generation, called Intel Meteor Lake, which probably won’t be backward compatible like Intel Raptor Lake.
Intel chose to stick with the winning hybrid core technology, which means Raptor Lake continues what Alder Lake started, with a mix of cores. Therefore, the Intel Core i9-13900K has a mix of performance (P) cores and efficiency (E) cores. The E cores remain pretty much the same as the previous generation, but the P cores have gotten a boost and are now called “Raptor Cove” instead of Alder Lake’s “Golden Cove”.
Intel Core i9-13900K and Core i9-12900K are based on the same 10nm “Intel 7” process. Both CPUs offer support for DDR5 and DDR4 RAM at the same time, although the new CPU has a higher memory speed limit. Additionally, both generations provide access to PCIe Gen 5.0 and can be used on the same motherboard, so if you currently own an Alder Lake CPU, the upgrade will be a seamless one. However, Intel Raptor Lake will be accompanied by many new 700-series motherboards. These include the higher-end Z790, followed by the more affordable H770 and B760 models from various manufacturers including Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte.
As usual, the Core i9-13900K will also be available in a KF variant, which will not include integrated graphics.
Performance
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
If you looked at the spec sheet and thought the 13900K would be a huge improvement in multi-threaded performance, but not so much in single-threaded performance, you’d be right. In our review, we found that the 13900K is typically 30-50% faster than the 12900K in multi-threaded applications like Handbrake and Cinebench R23.
Cinebench R23 scored the best for 13900K, outperforming 12900K by 47%, thanks to a combination of more cores and higher clocks. However, when you remove those extra cores from the equation in the single-threaded benchmark, the performance gains are significantly reduced.
In the Cinebench R23 single-core benchmark, the 13900K was just 14% faster than the 2900K and just 8% faster than the Core i9-12900KS. In Intel’s favor, single-threaded performance gains are pretty tough, especially when there are no significant improvements to the architecture, so 8% to 14% is fine.
While Intel has promised that the 13900K will deliver the “world’s best gaming experience,” it’s not a huge improvement over the 12900K as far as we can tell. IN far away 6, red dead redemption iiand cyberpunk 2077, the 13900K only improved the frame rate by single digits, which is imperceptible. This is pretty amazing considering the 13900K has a lot more cache than the 12900K, and adding more cache is a great way to improve gaming performance. The extra clock speed (which the Raptor Lake also has) is also good for gaming, so it’s a bit strange that the 13900K doesn’t perform much better.
However, there are some games that benefit from Raptor Lake’s large cache and high clock speeds. We have seen decent progress Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which ran at 11% higher frames per second at 13900K. light the times civilization VI They’re also down from 7.3 seconds on a 12900K to 5.9, which may not sound like much, but a 24% faster turn time is a big deal on civilization VIespecially since the moves get longer as the game progresses.
Intel also touts the CPU’s overclocking capabilities, and indeed, we’ve already seen the Raptor Lake CPU hit the mythical 6.0 GHz mark in leaked benchmarks. Such a clock rate would be difficult for the Core i9-12900K to achieve with its 5.2GHz max boost clock. It’s worth noting that the CPU that managed to hit 6GHz wasn’t even the flagship: it was the Core i7-13700K. , so the Core i9-13900K will certainly be able to achieve that as well. Using liquid nitrogen for extreme cooling, Intel was able to push the P cores in the Core i9-13900K to over 8GHz. While not exactly a world record, it’s a huge achievement that bodes well for overclocking ability. of the processor.
Raptor Lake has also made overclocking easier, with new per-core tuning visualizations and one-click overclocking built right into the CPU.
Faster, but only if you need more cores
intel corporation
The 13900K is definitely an upgrade over the 12900K, but not a particularly big one unless you want those extra eight cores for the workloads that can use them. Apps that are less thread- or cache-reliant won’t see particularly big performance gains, and games didn’t run much faster on the 13900K, either.
Then there is the question of price. The Core i9-13900K is about $100 more expensive than the Core i9-12900K, which might be a better option if you’re not looking for the best performance available. If so, there’s no denying that the new Core i9-13900K will be a better option, and the extra $100 seems like a fair trade if you need those extra cores. However, prices for the 12900K could continue to drop, so it might be worth waiting a bit to see what happens.
If you game or don’t work with core-intensive software, the 12900K is probably right for you.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn