What is Raptor Lake Processor? (Explained)

What is Raptor Lake Processor?

The Raptor Lake processors refer to the 13^th generation of Intel CPU lines built on Intel 7 manufacturing process and a set of hybrid cores comprising up to 8 Raptor Cove performance cores and up to 16 Gracemont efficient cores.

Technically, the architecture of these Intel CPUs comes with an LGA 1700 socket type and 700-series chipsets.

The 3^rd generation SuperFin transistor architecture and enhanced node of these processors shift the V-F curve to improve voltage at ISO-frequency.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Raptor Lake processor is built on Intel 7 fabrication process microarchitecture and was developed by the research and development team of Intel in Haifa, Israel.
• The architecture supports hybrid core architecture of performance and efficient cores of up to 8 and 16, respectively.
• The Raptor Lake processors are the successor to Alder Lake processors of Intel, released on October 20, 2022.
• The design and functionality of these processors allow them to be used in low-power mobile devices, regular desktop computers as well as high-end mainstream workstations.
• Raptor Lake CPUs for mobile devices and desktop computers are typically branded as 13^th generation Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Intel Core i9 processors.

Understanding Raptor Lake Processor

The term Raptor Lake refers to the codename of the 13^th generation Intel Core processors that are built on the Intel 7 fabrication process.

This is basically the 3^rd generation SuperFin transistor architecture of Intel.

This specific design gives the processors a much improved node that helps in shifting the V-F or Voltage-Frequency curve as much as necessary to allow a significant decrease in voltage at ISO-frequency.

Alternatively, it also causes an improvement of a few hundred 100 MHz in the CPU frequency at the ISO voltage level.

The design also supports a handful of extensions to the x86-64 Instruction Set Architecture and a pipeline to carry out Out-of-Order and speculative executions.

Released on October 20, 2022, these processors use the Land Grid Array or LGA 1700 socket which makes them compatible with a variety of both 700-series as well as 600-series motherboard chipsets.

It has all the features to give a tough competition to the AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors.

These processors typically consist of a hybrid core architecture. In this particular architecture, there can be up to 8 Raptor Cove performance cores, also known as P-cores, and up to 16 Gracemont efficient cores, also known as E-cores.

The maximum CPU clock frequencies supported by the P-cores and the E-cores are up to 5.8 GHz and 4.3 GHz, respectively.

Ideally, the big cores in the processors are designed to improve its single-thread performance. On the other hand, the small cores in them are designed to enhance multi-thread performance along with power efficiency.

In fact, the Raptor Lake architecture design orchestrates thread scheduling exquisitely depending on the performance demand.

This means that the cores of these processors combined will provide you with much higher multi-threading performance as well as much improved single-thread performance along with much better power efficiency.

Basic Information and Specs

In addition to the above, the significant features and a few other physical, technical and non-technical specs of the Raptor Lake processors are as follows:

• The Level 2 cache for the P-core is 2 MB and that of the E-core cluster is 4 MB.
• The Level 3 cache size can be up to 36 MB.
• The architecture can support a DDR5 memory of up to 5600 MHz.
• The architecture also supports the Z 790 chipset.
• As for the I/O, the architecture supports up to 20 Peripheral Component Interconnect Express or PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 lanes.
• In addition, the design can also offer support for as many as 5 USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 GBit) ports.
• The package comes with a set of 3^rd generation Intel SuperFin transistors.
• The processors are power efficient and therefore can be used in mobile devices as well.
• The successors and predecessors of these processors are Alder Lake and Meteor Lake, respectively.

The desktop variants of the Raptor Lake processors share some common features along with a few different ones as well. Here are those summarized for you:

• The socket type used is the same LGA 1700 in these processors.
• All of the Raptor Lake processors support up to a DDR4-3200 or DDR5-5600 Random Access Memory of up to 128 GB in the dual-channel mode.
• All of these processors support up to 16 PCI Express Gen 5 and 4 PCIe Gen 5 or PCIe 4 lanes, depending on the type of support provided by the motherboard and chipsets.
• Some of the models of these specific types of Raptor Lake processors support an integrated UHD Graphics 770 processor with a base frequency of 300 MHz and up to 32 execution units.
• The Raptor Lake desktop processors are designed to run at Turbo Power at all times by default. However, the base power is assured only when the performance and efficient cores do not cross their base clock rate.
• At the maximum Turbo power, the optimally sustained power dissipation of the CPUs is restricted by the temperature and current controls.
• The direct power may surpass the maximum Turbo Power at short intervals, which can be system-specific and can be configured by the system retailer.
• A few specific models of the desktop processors may also come with Error Correction Code memory support, provided that they are paired with a W680 chipset-based motherboard. The other variants do not support ECC memory in any way.

Core Codenames

The Raptor Lake processors, developed by the Research and Development team of Intel in Haifa, Israel, can be used in different devices such as:

• The high-end mainstream workstation computers
• Desktops
• Mobile systems

Accordingly, these processors come with different code names for the cores in them. Here they are all for you in brief:

• The Raptor Lake S – This offers mainstream performance            to value for desktop computers, All-in-One systems and minis. The Thermal Design Power or TDP of these processors is typically 125 watts.
• The Raptor Lake U – This specific variant can be used in ultra low-power devices such as light notebooks, minis, portable All-in-Ones, and conference room. The TDP of these processors is usually 15 watts.
• The Raptor Lake P – This variant is typically designed to offer ultimate mobile performance and is used extensively in mobile workstations, minis, and portable All-in-Ones. The TDP of these processors is usually 9 watts.
• The Raptor Lake H – This type of processor offers high-level graphics performance when used in mobile workstations. The TDP of these processors is usually 45 watts.
• The Raptor Lake HS – This type of processor also offers high graphics performance.

Brand Names

As for the different brand names of the Raptor Lake processors, Intel typically released only three primary brand families of processors to be used in mainstream desktop computers and mobile systems.

Here they are summarized as follows, along with the number of cores and specific features supported:

• The Intel Core i5 processors are designed to offer mid-range performance and come with 6 performance cores and 8 efficient cores, providing support for HT, AVX, AVX2, and TBT.
• The Intel Core i7 processors are designed to offer high-end performance and come with 8 performance cores and 8 efficient cores, providing support for HT, AVX, AVX2, TBT, and TBMT.
• The Intel Core i9 processors are designed to offer extreme performance and come with 8 performance cores and 16 efficient cores, providing support for HT, AVX, AVX2, TBT, TBMT, and TVB.

There are also a few Intel Core i3 variants that are designed to offer low-end performance.

Instruction Set Architecture and Extensions Support

The Raptor Lake processors support the x86-64 Instruction Set Architecture and a wide range of their extensions such as:

• AES-NI or Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions
• CLMUL or Carry-less Multiplication
• RDRAND or Read Random
• SHA or Secure Hashing Algorithm
• TXT or Text File extension
• MMX or MultiMedia eXtensions
• SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4, SSE4.1, SSE4.2
• AVX or Advanced Vector Extensions, along with AVX2
• FMA3 or Fused Multiply Add
• AVX-VNNI or Advanced Vector Extensions Vector Neural Network Instructions
• VT-x and VT-d or Virtualization extensions

Compiler Support

The Raptor Lake processors, like most Intel high-end CPUs, support different types of arch-specific and arch-favorable compilers such as:

• ICC or Intel C Compiler
• GCC or GNU Compiler Collection
• LLVM or Low Level Virtual Machine and
• Visual Studio.

Raptor Lake vs Alder Lake

• Raptor Lake is the codename given to the 13^th generation of Intel Core processors. On the other hand, Alder Lake is the codename given to the Intel Core processors belonging to the 12^th generation.
• The microarchitecture of the Raptor Lake processors uses Raptor Cove performance cores and Gracemont efficient cores. On the other hand, the architecture of the Alder Lake processors uses Golden Cove performance cores, while the efficient cores are of the same Gracemont type.
• The Raptor Lake processor architecture is relatively new, with a release date of October 20, 2022. On the other hand, the architecture of the Alder Lake processors is an older model in comparison, having a release date almost a year earlier on November 4, 2021.
• The maximum clock speed attained by the performance cores can reach up to 5.8 GHz in the case of the architecture of the Raptor Lake processors. On the other hand, the optimal clock speed attained by the performance cores of the Alder Lake processors can range anywhere between 1 GHz and 5.5 GHz.
• The maximum clock speed of the efficient cores of the Raptor Lake processors can be up to 4.3 GHz. On the other hand, the architecture of the Alder Lake processors enables the efficient cores to attain a maximum CPU clock rate ranging between 700 MHz and 4 GHz.
• The maximum number of performance cores and efficient cores in the Raptor Lake architecture can be up to 8 and 16, respectively. On the other hand, though the number of performance cores in the Alder Lake processors can be up to 8, its architecture can support only up to 8 efficient cores in comparison to Raptor Lake.
• A few specific models of the Raptor Lake CPUs may come with a UHD 770 graphics chip integrated into them. On the other hand, the architecture of the Alder Lake chips, depending on the model, may support UHD 770, UHD 730, UHD 710 Graphics processors as well as an Intel Xe (Gen 12.2) graphics chip with up to 96 execution units on the mobile and up to 32 of them on the desktop variants.
• The brand names of the Raptor Lake processors are typically Intel Core i5, Core i7 and Intel Core i9. On the other hand, there are different varieties of Alder Lake processors for desktop, mobile, Internet of Things and embedded systems with different brand names such as Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Celeron and Pentium.
• The Level 3 cache size of the Raptor Lake processors is 3 MB per cluster, but in comparison, the L3 cache size of the Alder Lake processors can go as high as 30 MB.
• The Raptor Lake processors are the successors to Alder Lake processors. On the other hand, the Alder Lake processors are the successors to the 10 nm mobile Tiger Lake, 14 nm desktop Rocket Lake, and 10 nm hybrid mobile Lakefield processors.
• The Raptor Lake processors are predecessors of the Meteor Lake processors, but in comparison, the Alder Lake processors are the predecessors of the Raptor Lake processors.

Which Chipset Does Raptor Lake Use?

Typically, the 13^th generation Intel Core Raptor Lake desktop processors use the 700-series Z790, H770, and B760 motherboard chipsets.

However, since the LGA 1700 socket used by these processors is the same as that used by the Alder Lake processors, the Raptor Lake processors may also be supported on a 600-series chipset motherboard with just a simple update in the Basic Input Output System or BIOS.

Does DDR4 Work with Raptor Lake?

The architecture of the Raptor Lake processors will surely support DDR4 memory up to a frequency of 3200 MHz, since it is capable of supporting DDR5 Random Access Memory up to an operating frequency of 5600 MHz.

Conclusion

As you can see from the article, all in all, the Raptor Lake CPU will offer quite an incredible performance with its hybrid core architecture, whether it is for productivity tasks or for any gaming scenarios.

But the power consumption can be a bit high for these high-end CPUs, especially when compared with AMD CPUs.