Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors could arrive as soon as September, if a recent leak is to be believed.
This info comes to us from Twitter user @xdnod (via Tom’s Hardware), who posted a slide from a Chinese presentation detailing what appears to be the full 13th Gen Intel Core CPU release schedule. What's especially intriguing about this leak is that if it proves true, Intel will announce its new processors on the same day AMD launches its Ryzen 7000 “Raphael” CPUs.
The slide in question has the title “RPL Online GTM Plan,” and it's possible RPL is an abbreviation of “Raptor Lake” while GTM could stand for “Go To Market.” According to the slide, Intel will introduce the new CPU line on September 27 (listed September 28 in Taiwan), the same day AMD's new CPUs go on sale. Intel will then launch its first Raptor Lake processors on October 20.
According to the schedule, pre-orders for the flagship Core i9-13900K will begin on September 27. Pre-orders for the Core i7-13700K and Core i5-13600K start on October 13. The slide also says new motherboards will launch alongside the CPUs. The rest of the slide reportedly discusses bundles and sponsorships, distribution of stocks and pushing sales. It also says that 13th gen Core desktop and mobile CPUs without the “K” suffix, along with other Raptor Lake products, will be announced during CES 2023.
Based on what we know, Intel’s 13th gen Core processors will have up to 24 cores and 32 threads on the 'Intel 7' process node. This is noteworthy because this process node is 10nm, whereas AMD is using a 5nm process for its Ryzen 7000 CPUs. In terms of performance and efficiency a smaller node is typically better, so this could prove significant. But we’d have to conduct independent benchmarking on Intel and AMD’s processors to see how they stack up individually and against one another.
Though the slide appears legitimate, it’s wise to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism regarding this and other alleged leaks. But if this is all genuine, folks in the market for a new desktop CPU will have their choice between Intel and AMD’s latest processors this Fall.
