Intel’s Raptor Lake processors brought one surprise: breaking the absolute extreme OC record. There were doubts it would ever happen, as today’s CPU architectures are not optimized for the high clock speeds at all costs like the past record holders Pentium 4 and AMD FX. But Raptor Lake and Intel 7 Ultra manufacturing process have shown they are capable of even more and have conquered a milestone never-beaten before, now. Read more “Breakthrough overclocking record: Raptor Lake achieves 9 GHz”
Yesterday, we discussed Intel’s leaked roadmap for 2023, specifically the plans for desktop segment. But in addition to the mainstream LGA 1700 socket, this roadmap also shows new workstation platforms. Alongside the most expensive server-derived platforms, it reveals the W790 platform that should be a more affordable option representing a successor to older HEDT products like the X299 platform, and is therefore of much interest to us. Read more “Return of Intel’s HEDT: W790, Xeon W-2400 and W-3400 processors”
The sixteen-core desktop Raptor Lake (Ci7-13700K) is a curious compromise between Core i9 (13900K) and Core i5 (13600K). Compared to the Core i5, it is significantly faster thanks to higher clock speeds and Turbo Boost 3.0 support, and it doesn’t lose much performance compared to Core i9 in lighter workloads, including gaming, but it is significantly more power-efficient. Read more “Intel Core i7-13700K: Efficient choice for a gaming “workhorse””
The Intel Core i5-13600K processor gives the impression of being from a slightly different class than the Ryzen 5 7600X. AMD’s Raphael with only 6 cores against 14 cores (albeit eight of them only small, Gracemont) of Raptor Lake may look like an underdog that should be significantly cheaper. However, one must be careful when making judgments. Although the Ci5-13600K is a great processor, so is the still only Ryzen 5 7000 in the game so far. Read more “Intel Core i5-13600K: Better value than Ryzen 5 7600X? Yes and no”
When the specs of the Ryzen 7000s first leaked, one thing was disappointing. These processors use 5nm process that is much more efficient, yet AMD has not exploited this potential. Likely due to pressure from Intel’s big.LITTLE processors, the company has increased power draw to raise multi-threaded performance and instead of 65W and 105W TDPs, the TDPs went up to 105W and 170W. But lower-power versions are fortunately in the pipeline. Read more “65W CPU with Zen 4 architecture is coming: AMD Ryzen 7 7700”
The release of Intel Raptor Lake processors also coincided somewhat with the release of the latest update for Windows 10, the 22H2. We write this in this context because it (22H2) quietly removes the most significant performance shortcomings, and the difference to the detriment of the older builds can be as much as 57 %. Most of the time this update doesn’t change performance too much, but when it does, it changes it greatly. Read more “Older Windows 10 versions than 22H2 slow down Raptor Lake CPUs”
A fully active Intel Raptor Lake CPU chip, that’s tremendous performance for all situations, but also a lot of worries. These revolve around how to use this great potential and not hold anything back. There are more obstacles than usual. When it’s not on a software basis, it’s a struggle with cooling for a change. And you already know that the 13th-generation Intel Core CPU is sometimes more efficient than the Ryzen 7000. Read more “Intel Core i9-13900K review: Biggest predator in the lake”
We’ll be releasing our full tests of the Intel Core i9-13900K (Raptor Lake) tomorrow. The sample arrived at the editorial office after the gallows deadline and it was not possible to make the full tests, but for now we have at least something that may get you in the right mood. One of the pleasant surprises is the higher single-threaded performance at lower power draw than AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs. And that’s even at a record 5.8 GHz. Read more “First results of Raptor Lake: A fairy tale in a single thread and…”
Ryzen 7000 with Zen 4 architecture is the first AMD processor to support 512-bit AVX-512 vector instructions. We’ve already discussed their benefits (bigger or smaller) here. But the Zen 4 cores support another instruction set extension that used to be Intel’s pride and joy, and now the roles have reversed a bit: VNNI. It seems to bring huge performance improvements in a number of apps, despite the limited 256-bit width of Zen 4 SIMD units. Read more “Why is Zen 4 so fast in Topaz Labs AI apps? In fact it’s Intel’s doing”
The cheapest Ryzen 7000 processor (7600X) is a class above Intel’s cheapest Core i5-class processor (12400). Ryzen dominates in virtually everything, and it does so at higher efficiency. Yes, it’s not the same price range, and the R5 7600X is ultimately “killed” by the high price (not just in terms of the CPU itself, but the entire platform), but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great processor. Read more “AMD Ryzen 5 7600X: The most popular Core i5 declassed”
This week, AMD Ryzen 7000 processors and AM5 platform went on sale (we’ve already tested the 7900X). Intel will counter with their own new generation next month: the 13th generation Core “Raptor Lake”, which was unveiled on the same day, albeit with no physical availability yet. We now have definitive specs, as well as pricing. You’ll be pleased to know that most SKUs have not gotten more expensive, even though that was rumored. Read more “Raptor Lake is here: high speed with 7 Ultra node, no price hike”
When Intel Rocket Lake processors with AVX-512 instructions came out last year, we took the opportunity to test how they can improve performance in the x265 video encoder. Since the now-released Ryzen 7000 processors with Zen 4 architecture also support AVX-512, and there has been a lot of debate about the pros and cons with Rocket Lake, we went back to that test to see how AMD’s alternative implementation fares in it. Read more “How good is AMD’s AVX-512? Does it improve Zen 4 performance?”
More aggressive power limits? Okay, but at a higher efficiency than Intel can do, AMD told itself while working on the Ryzen 7000 processors. And that’s how it really is, despite record-high clock speeds that are truly unusual for a new, unrefined manufacturing node. If this is just the beginning… In any case, not everything is rosy and AMD’s new processors have downsides that will need to be addressed in the future. Read more “AMD Ryzen 9 7900X test: A BANG of an intergenerational leap”
Yesterday we shared the news that EVGA is ending production of GeForce graphics with Nvidia GPUs after more than twenty years. Another “end of an era” moment has however happened virtually at the same time. Intel has announced that it will do away with the historic Pentium and Celeron processor brands that have survived since the 20th century. This is as part of image and branding changes the company is now planning for next year. Read more “End of an era: Intel to stop making Celeron and Pentium CPU”
It is often commented on that Intel processors (like the upcoming Raptor Lake) have many different boost modes with various conditions, for example the temperature-dependent Thermal Velocity Boost. But it turns out that the Ryzen 7000s have something similar. According to unofficial information the top Ryzen 9 7950X model will also reach its maximum frequency only at low temperatures – impractically low, even. Read more “Zen 4 has a thermal boost, too. 5.85 GHz only at sub 50 °C temps”
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