The Raptor Lake architecture is getting ready for a facelift that Intel is no longer accustomed to.
For some time now, Intel has been used to releasing a new generation of processors every year. Of course, these new generations are not necessarily the occasion for radical change, and there was even - for a time - talk of the Tik-Tok rhythm to baptize years with a change of architecture (for a major modification) and years with optimization of the previous architecture (for a logically more modest modification). Everything suggests, however, that autumn 2023 will be a more complex season for Intel, which seems to be heading towards a double launch, a double generation.
Indeed, all the specialists are expecting the American company to launch theMeteor Lake architecture we've already mentioned, which should also be the occasion for the introduction of a new nomenclature for Intel chips. For Meteor Lake, the American company no longer wishes to number its chips' generations, and is therefore not talking about a 14th or 15th generation. Also for Meteor Lake, Intel is no longer talking in terms of Core i3, Core i5, Core i7 or Core i9, and is turning to a triple range of processors known as Intel, Intel Core and Intel Core Ultra. Each of the three ranges is intended to signify a step up in power, with the Ultra series of course being the most powerful chips.
Videocardz
For the time being, however, this name is reserved for Meteor Lake chips, which may well initially not be used at the very top end of the market. In fact, rumor has it that Intel is planning a barroud of honor for the Raptor Lake architecture, before moving its entire product range to Meteor Lake at a later date. In fact, by autumn 2023, the new architecture would only concern entry/mid-range models and mobile chips. The world of high-end desktops, which consume large amounts of energy, would be entitled to what we call a refresh of the Raptor Lake generation, with chips that would benefit from various optimizations in order to supplant AMD chips.
According to the latest information published in China and relayed by Videocardz, the release of this Raptor Lake refresh is almost a foregone conclusion at Intel: the processors are due to go on sale during week 42 of the calendar, i.e. between October 17 and 23. The source of the information also specifies that it will be a "classic" launch, probably in two stages, with first the sale of "K" processors (with unlocked multiplier coefficients) and then the sale of "non-K" models (whose overclocking is more delicate).
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Raptor Lake processors in this refresh should be compatible with existing LGA1700 platforms. However, it may be necessary to update the motherboard BIOS, particularly in the case of the Core i7-14700K, whose configuration (8 high-performance cores / 12 efficient cores) is unprecedented. Finally, it's worth pointing out that, for Intel, this will be the last batch of processors to be based on the LGA1700 socket: Meteor Lake will effectively introduce the LGA1851 socket, which should be taken up the following year by the Arrow Lake generation and, in 2025, by Panther Lake.
