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Intel Raptor Lake Refresh Officially Launched

Raptor Lake Refresh has today been officially launched although the excitement is probably not all there as let’s be honest, a refresh doesn’t offer much that will get you typing in your card details on day one. Throughout the past few months, several leaks have been getting out over the past few months which have pretty much supplied us with all the information from specs to pricing leaving Intel very little to surprise us with.

Intel Raptor Lake Refresh Unlocked

Intel has launched its new Raptor Lake Refresh chips consisting of the K & KF series i5, i7 and i9 14th gen processors pushing upwards of 6 GHz turbo frequencies with the i9 processor and increased core counts on the i7 as opposed to its 13th gen predecessor. Below is the full table showing each new chip as well as their pricing which remains around the same as the previous gen and even interestingly, the increased cores of the i7-14700K knock off $10 from the 13700K MSRP of $419.

Gaming Performance

The 14900K was pitted up against AMD’s top offerings where it managed to take a strong lead in Starfield , Total War: WARHAMMER III and CSGO although that one doesn’t mean much anymore. With CIV 6 it was on a level playing field with the Ryzen 9 7950X, Modern Warfare II was a level playing field all around and Horizon Zero Dawn saw the i9-14900K fall behind the Ryzen X3D chips.

i7 14700K Performance

The most interesting part of this launch is the i7-14700K which has seen its core count go from 8P-8E to 8P-12E which has netted some performance improvements over the previous generation. It is hard to gauge this chart though as the performance increase needs to also be compared to the performance increase of the i9-14900K & 14600K over their predecessors to really see if the added cores have made a notable impact comparatively. Ignoring that, this chip especially with a cheaper starting price than the previous generation, does look to be a pretty solid option for someone looking to upgrade to an LGA 1700 based system.

What Intel Had To Say

“Since the introduction of our performance hybrid architecture, Intel has consistently raised the bar for desktop performance. With our Intel Core 14th Generation processors, we’re showing once again why enthusiasts turn to Intel for the best desktop experience available on the market today.”–Roger Chandler, Intel vice president and general manager, Enthusiast PC and Workstation, Client Computing Group

Features

The Ultimate Gaming Platform: Intel Core 14th Gen processors power an immersive gaming experience with up to 23% gaming performance uplift compared to leading competitor processors, while new gaming-focused features like Intel® Application Optimization (APO) ensure better-than-ever application threading alongside existing Intel® Thread Director application thread scheduling^6,7.
Continued Overclocking Leadership: Intel Core 14th Gen unlocked processors continue to offer an unparalleled overclocking experience for everyone – from experts to beginners2. Latest-generation unlocked desktop processors now include the new Intel® XTU AI Assist feature for AI guided overclocking, as well as support for DDR5 XMP speeds well beyond 8,000 megatransfers/second (MT/S).
Best-in-Class Connectivity: Intel’s latest desktop processor family comes equipped with integrated support for Wi-Fi 6/6E and Bluetooth® 5.3, as well as discrete support for new Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless technologies. Additionally, Intel Core 14th Gen desktop processors include support for Thunderbolt™ 4 as well as upcoming Thunderbolt 5 wired connectivity – supporting up to 80 Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth⁸.
Compatibility with 600/700-series Chipsets: Intel Core 14th Gen desktop processors remain compatible with both Intel 600 and 700 series chipsets, giving enthusiasts the ability to easily upgrade their existing systems and enjoy latest-generation gaming and creator performance.