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Intel Core i9-13900K pummels the Core i9-12900K with an up to 46% lead in multi-core tests in early review

Intel Core i9-13900K will allegedly pack 16 E cores. (Source: Intel)
Intel Core i9-13900K will allegedly pack 16 E cores. (Source: Intel)
Intel’s 13th gen “Raptor Lake” processors are set to break cover in the coming months. The chips are reportedly bringing impressive performance uplifts. A user by the name of Extreme Player has now put the top-of-the-line Core i9-13900K through its paces and the results are as expected. The CPU posted an outstanding average multi-core performance uplift of 40% when compared to the Core i9-12900K.

Intel’s upcoming 13th gen “Raptor Lake” flagship, the Core i9-13900K, has leaked quite extensively. Just a few days ago the chip showed up on Geekbench. Now, a qualification sample of the Intel Core i9-13900K has been tested by a Chinese reviewer Extreme Player. The 24-core, 32-thread CPU was set to 125 max TDP with a base frequency of 3.0 GHz and a boost clock in the range of 5.5 GHz and 5.7 GHz.

The processor was running on an ASUS ROG Z690 Extreme motherboard equipped with 6400 MT/s DDR5 memory, an RTX 3060 Ti, and a 1500 W PSU. The cooling was handled by a Thermalright AIO Frozen Magic 360 water cooler.

Finally, the Core i9-13900K sample was tested against a 12th gen Intel Core i9-12900KF running at the same 125 W TDP.

Per the tests performed by Extreme Player, the Core i9-13900K beats the Core i9-12900KF in single-core workloads with an average lead of 10%. For instance, in the CPU-Z single-thread benchmark, the Raptor Lake chip was 9.41% faster than its predecessor. In Cinebench R23, the Core i9-13900K increased its lead to 13.53% in the single-core test.

While the single-core performance of the Raptor Lake Core i9 is respectable, the multi-core results are significantly more impressive. On an average, the CPU is over 35% better in multi-threaded tasks. When put against the Core i9-12900KF in CPU-Z multi-thread benchmark, the Core i9-13900K managed to outperform the 12th gen part by 46.34%. The story was similar in Cinebench R23 where the 13th gen CPU posted a 40.25% better score than its 12th gen counterpart.

So, what is behind these performance uplifts? The multi-threaded performance gains are easier to explain since the Core i9-13900K has eight more E cores than the Core i9-12900KF. However, the single-core uplift is another matter.

When tested at the same clock speeds, both processors posted similar single-core benchmark results. For instance, in the CPU-Z single-thread benchmark, the Core i9-13900K running at 5.2 GHz only managed a score of 845.7 compared to 844 of the Core i9-12900K. So it looks like the former's single-core uplift is mainly a result of increased clock speeds.

Finally, if the thermal testing done by the reviewer is credible, the Core i9-13900K will be a handful to cool when it releases as the CPU hit 100°C when tested in Intel XTU even with a 360 AIO.

Since this is an early review of an unreleased product, take the information presented here with a grain of salt. Intel is reportedly planning to release the 13th gen Raptor Lake processor in Q4 this year. So, we’ll see how well the numbers posted by Extreme Player match up to those of the retail samples.

Buy Intel Core i9-12900K desktop processor on Amazon

CPU-Z benchmark results. (Source: Extreme Player)
CPU-Z benchmark results. (Source: Extreme Player)
Cinebench R23 benchmark results. (Source: Extreme Player)
Cinebench R23 benchmark results. (Source: Extreme Player)
Chart of all benchmark results for the Core i9-13900K. (Source: Extreme Player)
Chart of all benchmark results for the Core i9-13900K. (Source: Extreme Player)
Thermal testing results in the Intel XTU. (Source: Extreme Player)
Thermal testing results in the Intel XTU. (Source: Extreme Player)
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 07 > Intel Core i9-13900K pummels the Core i9-12900K with an up to 46% lead in multi-core tests in early review
Fawad Murtaza, 2022-07-15 (Update: 2022-07-15)