Intel Core i9-13900K 24-Core Raptor Lake CPU Breaks Cover In Benchmark Leak
We're always looking toward the future around here, and so it goes that we have a mildly juicy leak for you regarding Intel's next-generation desktop CPUs. Raptor Lake is the codename for the 13th-generation Core series, and if what we've heard from past leaks is accurate, it will be fundamentally similar to Alder Lake, with slight refinements to the P-cores, a pile of extra L2 cache, and the addition of eight more E-cores. That gives a total of 24 cores and 32 threads on the top-end SKU.
Don't be fooled by the "32 physical cores" listing; extant 12th-generation CPUs show up with physical cores = logical cores as well. Ashes was never updated for Alder Lake, so it doesn't understand the core topology. It takes a bit of assumption to reach the conclusion that this is a Core i9-13900K sample, but all of Intel's extant CPUs with 32 threads would have showed up with the correct core count, and Intel's 32-core CPUs are big Xeons that probably wouldn't be able to catch an Alder Lake Core i9-12900K in this Ashes benchmark.
Indeed, this mystery CPU scored the third-fastest result ever in this specific test. That's impressive stuff assuming this is in fact an early sample, although Raptor Lake's similarity to Alder Lake could mean that these chips will be ready sooner than later. Of course, Intel will surely hold onto the 13th-generation parts until it makes sense to release them—like, say, after AMD launches its Zen 4 CPUs. Both families of parts are expected late this year.
