Intel’s latest Core processors bring the 13th-gen to the masses

Intel added to their 13th-gen Core desktop processor lineup at CES 2023, with the announcement of the 65W family of desktop “Raptor Lake” processors for mainstream PCs.

Intel has already launched the enthusiast-focused Core i9-13900K and our review of the chip shows that it leads AMD’s Ryzen chips on multiple fronts. But the 65W chips are more than likely what most consumers will buy as opposed to the $650 Core i9-13900K, especially since most prebuilt PCs don’t include overclockable K-series chips.

Intel’s lineup will be led by the Core i9-13900, which will be slightly slower than the Core i9-13900K. The Core i9-13900 will run at 5.6GHz (versus 5.8GHz) and contain 24 cores (8 performance cores, and 16 efficiency cores) and 32 threads. If it’s like the Core i9-13900K, it will include a larger level two cache (2MB per performance core and 4MB for every efficiency core cluster) that will help boost performance. The new, updated processor family will top out at $549.

Intel includes two different processor families, which we’ve shown in the two slides below: the 35W T-series chips, optimized for small-form-factor and low-power builds, and the F-series, which does away with an integrated GPU to save a few dollars. Otherwise, the Intel Core i9-13900 i7-13700, and i5-13600 are the most powerful chips inside this family.

The selling point for all of the 13th-gen Core family is the addition of extra efficiency cores, which will help boost the chip’s performance when the entire chip is taxed to its fullest. The Core i9 family will add eight more efficiency cores and up to 18MB more L2 cache. The Core i7 family (topping out at 5.2GHz in turbo mode) will add four more E-cores. The Core i5 family, meanwhile, will add eight more efficiency cores, for up to 39 percent more performance than the prior generation.

From a performance standpoint, Intel is saying that the new Core i9-13900 will deliver up to 11 percent single-threaded performance and 34 percent multi-threaded performance compared to the Core i9-12900K. It’s also more energy-efficient, too. Intel claims that the Core i9-13900 will offer up to 34 percent higher multithreaded performance as the Core i9-12900 and at the same power level.

Intel said its partners plan up to 70 motherboards, with support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, to support its new desktop chips.

Clarification: The Core i9-13900 will run at 5.6GHz (versus 5.8GHz) and contain 24 cores (8 performance cores, and 16 efficiency cores) and 32 threads. A previous version of the story said that it would include “up to” 24 cores.