Intel has officially announced the Core i9-13900KS, a new flagship Raptor Lake desktop CPU that will deliver up to 6.0 GHz max turbo frequency out of the box. According to a press release from Intel, this is the first processor in the PC industry to cross that threshold at stock, beating out the standard Core i9-13900 K and KF models, which are listed with a maximum boost clock of up to 5.8 GHz. The special edition processor will be available beginning January 12, 2023, with a recommended customer price starting at $699.
Key features and capabilities of the i9-13900KS, per Intel:
- Up to 6.0 GHz max turbo frequency with Intel Thermal Velocity Boost – the first CPU in the PC industry to reach 6.0 GHz without overclocking.
- Intel Adaptive Boost Technology for improved gaming performance by opportunistically allowing higher multicore turbo frequencies.
- 24 cores (eight Performance-cores and 16 Efficient-cores), 32 threads, 150W processor base power, 36MB Intel Smart Cache and a total of 20 PCIe lanes (16 PCIe 5.0 and four PCIe 4.0 lanes).
- Up to DDR5 5600 MT/s and DDR4 3200 MT/s support.
- Compatible with Z790 and Z690 motherboards, with the latest BIOS recommended for the best gaming and content creation experience.
“The Core i9-13900KS continues our 13th Gen Intel Core desktop processor family excellence, showcasing the new performance heights made possible by our performance hybrid architecture,” said Marcus Kennedy, Intel Client Computing Group manager, Gaming and Channel. “Extreme gamers and enthusiasts can now push their everyday performance further than ever before with the first desktop processor in the PC industry to provide 6.0 GHz speeds at stock.”
From an Intel press release:
The unlocked i9-13900KS processor represents a major milestone in the PC industry – bringing faster speeds than before to enthusiast desktop users. In addition to 24 cores, it delivers up to 6.0 GHz max turbo frequency and 36MB Intel Smart Cache for incredible performance in gaming and content creation workloads.
Discussion (4 replies)
Join Discussion →As yeehaw, hold on to your britches, 6 GHz sounds it's a hard pass for me on a 320W TDP processor.
I still remember 5Ghz on air a few years ago, and hidden phase change coolers on show room floors, so yeah - this stuff doesn’t excite me as much once I see the trade offs. 320W, yikes
I can tease >300W out of an i5, just by taking the brakes off and giving it a moderate synthetic load to chew on.
But you'll never see that unless you run a near-synthetic workload to do... well, work. Games certainly aren't going to get you there.
And one thing to keep in mind - the KS SKU is most valuable for being a factory up-bin. Having a more agreeable voltage / frequency curve can definitely help in the extremes. The brave will be running it delidded with sub-ambient liquid cooling, and the truly mad will just set a copper cup on top and pour in liquid nitrogen!
Never been excited by Intel's "Special Edition" processors. Pretty much just paying for bragging rights at this point.