Both Team Blue and Team Red are ramping up their 13th Gen Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs before they launch later this year. These CPUs are supposed to be generational leaps performance-wise. Leaks surrounding these upcoming chips are everywhere on the internet.
AMD's Ryzen 7000 lineup will introduce an all-new socket, AM5. The company is also shifting to DDR5 memory with these upcoming chips. The entire series will be based on AMD's all-new Zen 4 microarchitecture.
Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake lineup is the successor to Alder Lake. It is rumored to bring both DDR4 and DDR5 support, much like its predecessor. Rumors have also showcased up to 10% performance gains on the newer chips.
Everything we know about Intel 13th gen Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000
Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 are two of the most awaited launch events this year for the PC hardware enthusiast community. Both companies will fight for the performance crown with these CPU lineups.
Release window
- Intel: Quarter 4 2022
- AMD: September 15, 2022
Both companies have outlined the expected release dates for their Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 chips.
Intel is expected to introduce the Raptor Lake lineup in Quarter 4, much like they did last time. The company is yet to give a release date. The launch event is expected to take place in mid to late-October.
AMD is expected to launch Ryzen 7000 this quarter, on September 15. AMD CEO Lisa Su said:
"Looking ahead, we're on track to launch our all-new 5nm Ryzen 7000 desktop processors and AM5 platforms later this quarter with leadership performance in gaming and content creation."
This gives AMD a headstart. How many chips will hit the market on this date remains to be seen.
Manufacturing process node and design
- Intel: Intel 7 monolithic die
- AMD: TSMC 5nm compute die, 6nm I/O die
With Raptor Lake, Intel will be reusing their Intel 7 process node that was introduced with the Alder Lake chips.
AMD is switching to TSMC 5nm Compute die with Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 chips. Until Ryzen 5000, the company was using a 7nm process node.
Number of cores and threads
- Intel: Up to eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores (24 cores), and 32 threads
- AMD: Up to 16 cores and 32 threads
Both companies are bumping up the core counts on the Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs.
Intel's top-tier Core i9 13900K is rumored to have a total of 24 cores, eight more than the last-gen Core i9 12900K. The bump in the core count can be attributed to the eight extra Gracemont efficiency cores on the new chip.
While the information on AMD chips is still blurry, the highest-end Zen 4 chip is expected to have 16 cores and 32 threads. More information on the exact SKUs is still awaited.
Memory support
- Intel: DDR4-3200 and DDR5-5200
- AMD: DDR5-6400, no support for DDR4
Both the upcoming Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 lineups will support blistering fast memory. Intel's chips are expected to come with support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The maximum speed supported on the DDR4 platform is 3200 MT/s. DDR5's maximum speeds have been bumped up to 5200 MT/s.
Ryzen 7000 was recently rumored to support memory sticks of up to 6400 MT/s. This gives AMD chips an advantage. However, Zen 4 chips might be DDR5-only. Unlike Intel, users cannot buy a DDR4 motherboard and thereby save a few bucks.
Integrated graphics
- Intel: UHD graphics 800 series
- AMD: RDNA 2-based iGPU
Both companies will include iGPUs alongside Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs.
Intel will follow their usual convention and introduce iGPU-less variants with their 'F' series of processors. However, it seems like AMD will bake in some form of an RDNA 2-based graphics processor with all of their CPUs.
Team Red is expected to launch APUs as usual with beefier iGPUs in them. AMD has previously announced its plans to make APUs strong enough to handle modern AAA titles. The company will be doubling down on its efforts this generation.
Pricing
- Intel: No concrete information yet
- AMD: No information
We do not have any information on the pricing of the upcoming Intel Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 chips. However, leaks and rumors have left a few hints.
The upcoming Zen 4 chips are expected to be quite expensive as compared to the last-gen 7nm chips. Part of this is due to the cutting-edge technology being used in these chips. The 5nm process node is far more expensive than the 7nm node AMD used to date. The switch to a 6nm I/O die from a 12nm I/O die is expected to add to the cost as well.
Intel Raptor Lake chips are expected to launch with competitive pricing. Intel followed a no-risk pricing trend with the Alder Lake chips. While the company might charge a hefty premium for the flagship Core i9 chips, the Core i5 and i7 chips might be priced competitively to appeal to a large audience.
Conclusion
Both Intel Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs will bring serious competition back into the consumer processor market. Nvidia and AMD will also be going head-to-head with the RTX 40 series and Radeon RX 7000 launches.
At the end of the day, consumers will benefit and get a great value for their money.