As we mentioned earlier, Intel will be arriving with its 14th generation of processors in the coming weeks. While everyone is focusing on Meteor Lake, the “Enthusiast” top of the range will be represented by a refresh of the Raptor Lake range. The first serious leaks point to a significant jump in frequencies thanks to a manufacturing process that has gained in maturity. A “kitchen” that would allow a possible i9-14900K to reclaim its crown.
Core i9-14900K or Core 9-14900 Ultra?
For the record, we don’t really know what the future top of this range will be called. With Intel’s new blueprint for naming its future range, speculation is rife… However, another leak suggests that Intel’s marketing has decided to give us a hard time. The latest leaks published by Chinese media Golden Pig Upgrade confirm that we’re going to need a lot of patience and aspirin to understand this new range.
A priori, the Raptor Lake refresh will see the old and new processor naming schemes cohabiting…
The new range, called Core 3/5/7, will apply only to the low-power mobile U series. The so-called “Core Ultra” top will be used exclusively for Meteor Lake chips. So, if we stick to this idea, the Raptor Lake-S refresh will still use Core i denominations… Happy folklore!
What about performance?
For this Raptor Lake range, you’ll have to rely on a significant increase in clock frequencies. The frequency of the current 13900KS could thus become the standard for the future top of the range. A quantum leap that should ensure Intel’s return to the forefront of AMD in the few segments where Ryzen 7000 X3Ds are the most fiercely contested. MLID seems to know that the top of the Intel range will be at least 20% higher than the best Ryzen. Although we don’t really know whether he’s using his crystal ball or real contacts, he confirms that this i9-14900K and other Raptor Lake upgrades will be launched in the third quarter of 2023, i.e. between July and September.
