Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors are set to launch in the latter half of the year as a soft refresh of Alder Lake. With the refined Raptor Cove core and twice as many Gracemont cores, they are expected to counterbalance AMD’s Ryzen 7000 offerings. There will be a 12-17 month barren patch after this release with no significant desktop launches from either side. Intel will end this draught with the launch of the 14th Gen Meteor and Arrow Lake-S processors.
According to well-known tipsters, the 14th Gen family will consist of both the Arrow Lake-S and Meteor Lake-S chips. The former leveraging the 20A (2nm) process will be aimed at DIY enthusiasts and gamers with as many as 40 cores (8P + 32E). The performance core will reportedly be upgraded to Lion Cove and the efficiency core, bringing an IPC increase of at least ~20%. The efficiency core will be upgraded to Skymont, and a total of 32 units will be available on the top-end Arrow Lake SKU.
Meteor Lake will form the entry-level and mid-range offerings of the 14th Gen family. These chips will top out at 24 (8P + 16E) cores, the same as Raptor Lake, and improve the IPC by 10-20%. At the same time, clock speed regressions as a result of the newer 4nm (Intel 4) node will dampen overall single-threaded performance. Either way, both Meteor and Arrow Lake-S will be excellent competitors for Zen 5 and Zen 6. The estimated launch date for the 14th Gen desktop lineup is the first half of 2024. The Meteor Lake-P (mobile) offerings should launch in 2023 itself.
Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have written about computer hardware for over seven years with over 5000 published articles. I started during engineering college and haven't stopped since. On the side, I play RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Divinity, and Fallout. Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
