Early Intel Core i9-13900K sample allegedly overclocked to 8.0 GHz ^↺

It is no secret that Intel's high-end CPUs overclock better than anything else AMD has to offer. Intrepid overclocker Splave pushed the Core i9-12900KS to a jaw-dropping 7.8 GHz. Its successor, the Core i9-13900K is poised to carry on Intel's legacy, according to a new report from Wccftech. An unnamed overclocker supposedly pushed the Raptor Lake silicon to 8.0 GHz.

What's even more impressive is that the feat was achieved on pre-production silicon. The test was conducted on an unknown Z790 motherboard with the CPU voltage turned up to 1.792 volts, disabled SMT/E-cores and LN2 cooling. Retail samples of the processor will certainly do better once more OEMs launch their high-end motherboards tailor-made for extreme conditions. That, combined with a stable BIOS could herald a new era for those who want to push Gigahertz to never-before-seen territories.

The Intel Core i9-13900K could finally break Team Red's near-eight-year stronghold (8,722 MHz) in the CPU overclocking world record list. If Intel's launch schedule remains unchanged, there could be an eventual Core i9-13900KS capable of pushing overclocking boundaries even further. The associated power costs, however, are best left a mystery, especially when Raptor Lake can guzzle through hundreds of watts even under seemingly "normal" conditions that don't include industrial-grade cooling.

Buy the Intel Core i9-12900K on Amazon