Intel’s flagship Raptor Lake CPU could run at up to 5.8GHz

Intel's Core i9 12900KS is out in the wild, complete with a two-core boost clock of up to 5.5GHz. But even that clock speed appears to be just a taste of what's to come. New rumours point towards a whopping 5.8GHz boost clock for Intel's flagship 13th Gen Raptor Lake model.

The news comes from a tweet from @OneRaichu via El Chapuzas Informatico. It states that Intel can add 200-300MHz over the 12900KS. Though it remains to be seen just what kind of impact that will have on power efficiency as its well known that power requirements increase steeply while chasing those last few megahurts.

Nevertheless, that kind of clock will be exclusive to the high-end model where performance is more important than power efficiency. i7 and i5 models will surely be a little more grounded, without needing high end cooling solutions. CPUs like the Core i5 12400 definitely impress for that reason, among others.

If Intel is able to deliver impressive clock speed improvements along with more cache, more E cores, and improved IPC of the Raptor Cover P cores, then Intel could have a very competitive range on its hands.

Intel isn't the only company rumoured to be pushing for clock speed gains. AMD too is set to deliver clock speed improvements with its upcoming Zen 4 range, with 5GHz or more on all cores being a distinct possibility. But will V-cache make it to Zen 4 or be introduced at a later date?

We know that the stacked cache of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D delivers excellent gaming performance, so perhaps Intel believes it needs to push clocks to the absolute limit to retain the gaming crown? Or perhaps its own cache size increases will deliver a similar gaming performance uplift? I can't wait to find out the answer to these and all the other questions that arise at the launch of a new CPU generation.

Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake and AMD's Zen 4 CPUs are set to do battle in the second half of 2022.