Intel’s Raptor Lake processors could go on sale on October 17, according to the rumor, following a late September launch.
This new speculation about the release time of Intel’s next-gen CPUs comes from a well-known leaker Enthusiastic Citizen (opens in new tab) (in Bilibili), as seen by Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab). You may recall that Enthusiastic Citizen recently provided another Raptor Lake leak about the Core i5-13600K (which was an impressive display for the mid-range chip).
Apply all the usual caveats regarding an adequate degree of skepticism to this (and previous) leak, of course, but the claim is that Intel will launch Raptor Lake at its innovation event on Sept. Last day) .
That day will also be when the embargo on revisions is lifted, so prospective buyers can see how the 13th-gen lineup performs, with the processors on sale on October 17, as mentioned.
The first models to hit shelves will apparently be the Core i9-13900K, along with the Core i7-13700K and Core i5-13600K, which would be the expected processors to start. KF models will also be released – they are processors without integrated graphics for those who like to rely on a discrete GPU.
However, non-K CPUs such as the vanilla Core i7-13700, for example, may not show until CES 2023 on January 5th, before going on sale in the second half of January. These models aren’t unlocked like K-series chips, meaning they can’t be overclocked, but that’s good for a lot of people who will never mess with their hardware anyway.
Finally, only the high-end Z790 motherboards will launch in October, the leaker claims, and the more affordable H760 and B760 chipsets won’t arrive until January (where they’ll launch alongside the non-K Raptor Lake processors).
It’s worth remembering that Alder Lake (600 series) motherboards are Raptor Lake compatible, so you won’t need to upgrade your mobo to a 700 series if you’re already running a 12th gen chip. And indeed, Intel is not supposed to release an H710 chipset for Raptor Lake and will instead simply reuse the H610 chipset, which, as mentioned, is fully compatible.
Analysis: More of a wait to hit the shelves than Alder Lake?
This new rumor should be treated very cautiously, but it lines up with what we were already thinking. When Intel announced its 2022 innovation event, the chip giant dropped hints about “hearing about the latest releases” at the conference, and last year that was the platform Team Blue used to release Alder Lake processors.
So we were already believing there was a solid likelihood of seeing Raptor Lake on Innovation around the October release deadline, which means it’s no surprise to hear this from the vine. However, what is particularly interesting to us here is the supposed gap between launch and the CPUs actually being sold.
We were assuming this would be a short break, but that’s just guesswork on our part, based on what happened with Alder Lake – where there was only a week between the reveal and the processors hitting shelves. In that case, Intel will apparently be waiting three weeks before releasing Raptor Lake so the public can buy it, and that’s a perfectly reasonable prediction.
The chips won’t be ready until they’re ready, of course, but we were thinking that Intel might want to launch in early October to try and take down AMD. Team Red’s Ryzen 7000 CPUs are expected to launch in September and likely October, just as the theory applies to Raptor Lake – and whichever company launches their next-gen processors first will obviously have a small win in terms to grab the spotlight as quickly as possible.
In the case of Intel, however, it would be a potentially bigger win because it would be the third chip generation to leave without a response from AMD, which could be considered as making Team Red seem more than a little sluggish – even though the Ryzen 5000 has held up remarkably well throughout its reign (with this cache update 3D V helping as a sort of stopgap at the top for gamers, admittedly).
Maybe AMD will get past the post first though, if this new rumor is right, but we won’t know for sure until a few months when these next-gen releases are supposed to start.
