Intel plans to release a Raptor Lake CPU that can hit 6GHz

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It's unclear which Raptor Lake chip will achieve this feat

Intel CPU
(Image credit: Intel)

One of Intel’s upcoming 13th gen Raptor Lake processors will be able to hit 6GHz at stock settings. The company made this claim during Intel’s Technology Tour 2022 event in Israel, which sister site Tom’s Hardware is attending. If the claim holds true, this clock speed would be faster than AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X processor, which AMD claims can reach 5.7 GHz (via The Verge). However, we don’t yet know which Raptor Lake chip is capable of hitting 6GHz.

During the event, Intel also announced that one Raptor Lake CPU set a world overclocking record at 8GHz. As TechRadar previously reported (via Wccftech), the i9-13900K Raptor Lake flagship CPU hit 8GHz in pre-release overclocking performed by an anonymous overclocker on a Z790 motherboard.

Much of what Intel presented is still under embargo, but we did get some tidbits regarding Raptor Lake performance. Intel says its 13th gen CPUs will be 15% faster in single-threaded and 41% in multi-threaded compared to last-gen Alder Lake chips. That’s impressive, but as always, we’d need to see third-party benchmarking to see if these claims are true.

intel alder lake marketing image showing CPU with Intel Core logo

6GHz clock speed out of the box would be impressive. (Image credit: Intel)

We aren’t sure if the first wave of Raptor Lake chips will be able to hit 6GHz or if we’ll see later chips achieve the feat. With Alder Lake, Intel released special edition “KS” CPUs after the initial launch. The same could be true for Raptor Lake if history repeats itself. Perhaps we’d see a potential i9-13900KS CPU hit 6GHz out of the box.

At present, we don’t yet have an official release date for Raptor Lake chips. But if a recent alleged leak is accurate, we could see Intel announce its new processors by the end of September, with a reported launch in October. Performance-wise, Intel confirmed its 13th gen Core CPU will have up to 24 cores (eight high-performance, 16 energy-efficient) that can simultaneously process up to 32 threads.

Details about Raptor Lake are scant but we should learn more on September 27 during Intel’s Innovation event. Incidentally enough, that’s also the same day AMD is launching its Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Stay tuned for more as it develops.

Tony Polanco
Tony Polanco
Senior Computing Writer

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.