An overclocker was seen putting Intel's Raptor Lake flagship processor through its paces, and the results were astounding, including hitting a speed of 6.5GHz (with beefy caveats, as you might guess; indeed, be sceptical with all this info).
The Brazilian overclocker Roberto Sampaio, who detailed his work on Overclock.net, is the source of this leak, which was noted by Wccftech(opens in new tab) (via VideoCardz(opens in new tab)) (opens in new tab). Obviously, we should proceed with some caution when reading this post, but pictures were also included. Unfortunately, Sampaio has since erased the entire thread as well as all of his posts.
Sampaio has additionally requested others to remove content that they had included quotes from him in, but some of the overclocker's remarks are still available (at the time of writing).
The overclocker claims to have achieved 6.5GHz on a single-core with a voltage of 1.45V using a Core i9-13900K in an Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme motherboard with a respectable liquid cooling system. Nevertheless, he points out that the chip he is in possession of appears to be a top performer for overclocking.
According to reports, the 6.5GHz speed was attained under "extremely light load," which means that in reality, this definitely isn't going to be the speed the 13900K achieves or anything like, and it was probably only attained for a very short time.
Nevertheless, this is encouraging for attempts to break records using liquid nitrogen. Sampaio noted that the performance cores of the top CPU reached 5.7GHz while under full load (and 4.4GHz for the efficiency cores).
Analysis: Is the showpiece project for Raptor Lake going to be incredibly good?
Sampaio wrote: "I'm trying the Z790 and 13900K and I can tell you... 12900KS is a kid comparing to the 13900K" and described the 13900K as "crazy."
The current fastest Alder Lake processor is the 12900KS, which is a specifically boosted variant of the 12900K. So, the Raptor Lake top dog is shaping up to be remarkable, and this isn’t the only time we’ve heard this (though in fairness, Ryzen 7000 is looking similarly appealing, and spiking far higher than prior AMD processors, too; up to 5.7GHz in fact) (though in fairness, Ryzen 7000 is looking similarly tempting, and boosting much higher than previous AMD processors, too; up to 5.7GHz in fact).
However, we must always keep in mind that the overclocker appears to be using a very capable CPU in this case. (Remember, CPUs come in a range of speeds that they can operate at while maintaining stability, and some are better than others; when you find one that works well, it's like winning the silicon lottery.)
You may be aware that while the 13900K can be pushed to achieve seriously high boost speeds, doing so comes at the expense of an equally high power consumption. Indeed, estimates of 350W have recently circulated in the rumour mill.
Sampaio points out that expectations of roughly 250W are more reasonable with overclocking because these kinds of alleged demands have been exaggerated. Additionally, he used a $20 basic air cooler to test the 13900K, and the processor didn't go any higher than 90C.
Naturally, you should season everything with a lot of salt, but these results aren't stand-alone. It's starting to look like these next-generation Intel CPUs could be a terrific option for enthusiasts and tinkerers who like to get the most out of their technology. According to another recent leak, Raptor Lake outperforms Alder Lake when turning up voltages for overclocking.
We've got a guide on how to start overclocking for people who want to read more about this.
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