Skip to main content

Intel Raptor Lake sets a sizzling new record for clock speeds

Intel shared some teasers about the upcoming Raptor Lake platform, and if this doesn’t get you hyped, we don’t know what will.

According to Intel, the new processors will be capable of hitting 6GHz clock speeds at stock settings — but that’s not all. Intel also teased that the CPU has set an overclocking record, surpassing the 8GHz barrier. In addition, we now know the performance Intel expects to deliver with Raptor Lake, and the jump from Alder Lake looks to be quite huge.

Recommended Videos

#RaptorLake at #IntelTechTour

DDR5-5600
1st 6 GHz
8 GHz OC World Record pic.twitter.com/7uTRMStRs3

— Andreas Schilling 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@aschilling) September 12, 2022

All of the information comes from Intel Tech Tour in Israel. We’re likely to hear more in the next couple of weeks, but even the things we already know are pretty exciting. We’ve learned more about Intel Raptor Lake and what to expect from the lineup. Let’s dive in.

For starters, Intel stated that Raptor Lake wouldn’t exist if not for the fact that Meteor Lake CPUs were not going to be ready on time. The development of these 13th-gen processors started roughly two years ago, and because the platform is so similar to Alder Lake, Intel was able to complete the process quickly. Despite the similarities, Raptor Lake is said to deliver a marked jump in performance.

Intel expects Raptor Lake to offer a 15% boost in single-threaded workloads and a massive 41% boost in multi-threaded operations, as well as an overall “40% performance scaling,” as noted by Tom’s Hardware. This is a smaller jump than was expected based on early benchmarks, but it’s still a big deal.

As for the clock speeds, it’s true — Intel has confirmed that there will be a Raptor Lake CPU that can hit 6GHz at stock settings. This implies a processor that’s even better than the upcoming flagship Core i9-13900K, which presumably means a Core i9-13900KS, the follow-up to this generation’s Core i9-12900KS.

Intel could certainly use a buffed-up Core i9-13900KS, especially if it arrives at a later date, which it most likely will. AMD will have a strong ace up its sleeve with the 3D V-Cache versions of Zen 4 coming out in 2023, so Intel may be able to match that performance with the rumored Core i9-13900KS. However, when it comes to the price, AMD might be more affordable if the current generation is anything to go by — Intel’s Core i9-12900KS was certainly not cheap.

Intel Raptor Lake leaked specs.
Information about the upcoming Intel Raptor Lake CPUs. Igor's Lab

Aside from the 6GHz stock speed, Intel has also teased a new record in overclocking achieved by Raptor Lake — the CPU has managed to hit 8GHz, which is an insane new high. Of course, liquid nitrogen cooling was a necessity here, so this is not a clock speed that most users will ever see on this platform. This isn’t a complete world record in overclocking — that belongs to the AMD FX-8370 that was pushed to a whopping 8.7GHz in 2020 — but it’s certainly a record for Intel’s 10nm platform.

We are likely to learn more about Intel Raptor Lake in the next couple of weeks. The processors are rumored to launch in October, following an official announcement from Intel on September 27 — the same day AMD launches its next-gen Ryzen 7000 processors.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Intel CEO says that Lunar Lake was ‘a one-off’
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger presents Intel's roadmap including Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Panther Lake.

Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger talked about the future of its top processors in the company's latest earnings call. Apart from reporting a huge $16.6 billion loss, the earnings call revealed a bit about next-gen products like Panther Lake and Nova Lake. According to Gelsinger, those two generations of laptop CPUs will not follow in Lunar Lake's footsteps. In fact, Gelsinger referred to Lunar Lake as "a one-off."

Lunar Lake introduced a first for Intel -- at least in terms of consumer processors. It came with on-package LPDDR5X memory, which brought Intel closer to some of the highly successful M chips manufactured by Apple. On-package memory can improve data transfer speeds and boost efficiency, and Lunar Lake was also proven to have solid battery life. Despite these benefits, Intel isn't going to give Lunar Lake a direct successor.

Read more
Not this again: Intel Arrow Lake may have instability issues
A render for an Intel Arrow Lake CPU.

Intel's Arrow Lake is just a couple of days from hitting the market, and we've been inundated with various reports and leaked benchmarks. Today's news doesn't sound good, though. YouTuber Moore's Law Is Dead reports that Arrow Lake, also referred to as Core Ultra 200-S, may have some instability issues -- much like what we've seen Intel battle for months on end with Raptor Lake.

Before we dive in, keep in mind that all of this is yet to be confirmed, and we're mere days away from finding out whether it's true or not. However, it could give some buyers a reason to hold off and read the reviews before preordering the CPUs. Moore's Law Is Dead talked about various reviewers and tech YouTubers who had something bad to say about Arrow Lake's stability. The issues are twofold: A wild discrepancy between benchmarks, and running into crashes.

Read more
Intel’s new Arrow Lake CPUs can still consume a ton of power
Pins on Core i9-12900K.

Intel has made a big deal about the efficiency of its upcoming Arrow Lake CPUs, which are looking to earn a spot among the best processors when they release later this week. Some early benchmark results HXL on X (formerly Twitter) show that the CPUs can still draw a ton of power if you stray from Intel's default power settings, however.

The post, which you can see below, shows the Core Ultra 9 285K peaking at 370 watts of power draw in Cinebench R23's multi-core test. The CPU itself is blacked-out, but you can tell it's the Core Ultra 9 285K from the 24 cores picked up by Cinebench. The Core Ultra 9 285K has a maximum turbo power of 250W, according to Intel, and a base power of 125W.

Read more