Intel Raptor Lake with Z690 platform and AMD Ryzen 7000 with X670 platform are expected to launch mid to late Q3 2022

CPU Giants AMD and Intel are both set to release their next generation of desktop processors later this year. The release is so close, in fact, that popular computer monitoring software CPU-Z has already added official software support for next-gen processors. This simultaneous addition is representative of how next-gen processor launches from Intel and AMD will also overlap, raising the stakes even further.

This will probably be the fiercest competition we have ever seen between the two companies. This is due to AMD launching its new AM5 platform with Ryzen 7000, the biggest leap forward for Team Red since the creation of Ryzen. Intel, on the other hand, will seek to build on the monumental success of Alder Lake by pushing the big small even more hybrid design.

Intel and AMD have officially confirmed that their next-generation processors, Raptor Lake a.k.a 13th generation and Ryzen 7000 aka Zen4, will hit store shelves in the next half year. We already have a head start on both platforms thanks to various leaks and rumours, some of which are anything but official. Today, a major leaker Keen Citizen added to the rumor train by post new details on both versions. Let’s first review the blue team.

Intel Raptor Lake – Launching Late Q3 or Early Q4 2022

Intel is set to launch its Raptor Lake processors very soon in the form of its 13th Gen Core series. Current reports suggest that we can expect a noticeable improvement in gaming performance due to an increase in both L2 and L3 caches, a strategy similar to AMD’s. While single-core has always been Intel’s domain, this time multi-core will also see a significant increase as Intel plans to double the amount of Efficiency Cores in Raptor Lake.

This would most likely put Intel on par with AMD’s multi-core performance, which has historically been superior, but don’t expect Intel to dominate in all workloads like AMD. Intel’s Alder Lake brought a much-needed boost in multi-core performance to Team Blue in the first place, but due to the nature of the hybrid design that Raptor Lake will rely on, Intel will still lag behind in some scenarios.

big.LITTLE’s design philosophy relies heavily on the single ring bus interconnect which will be pushed to its absolute limits with Raptor Lake. Again, on Alder Lake, it’s already a widespread problem that if you enable all efficiency cores on a SKU, the ring frequency is unable to exceed the maximum clock speeds of the Atom cores. It remains to be seen how much of this phenomenon will actually impact Raptor Lake in the real world.

Going back to the core specs, Raptor Lake is said to continue the PCIe generation 5.0 and DDR5 support introduced at Alder Lake. Despite launching with a new platform chipset, Raptor Lake will still support DDR4 memory too. Speaking of which, Raptor Lake will work on both 600 and 700 series motherboard due to their sharing LGA1700 plug. Additionally, Enthusiast Citizen expects Raptor Lake to launch in late T3 or by start of Q4 2022.

Intel will first launch the K series unlocked 13th generation Core processors with the flagship Z690 motherboards as mentioned above, then later down the line, in Q1 2023, we will see more Raptor Lake SKUs including locked chips. This is also when the more common 700 series motherboards for Raptor Lake will hit the market. You can see a summary of all Raptor Lake features and specs below.

• Up to a maximum of 24 cores and 32 threads
• New Raptor Cove processor cores (Higher IPC P-Core)
• Based on 10nm ESF ‘Intel 7’ process node
• Supported on existing LGA 1700 motherboards
• DDR5-5600 dual channel memory support
• 20 PCIe Gen5 lanes
• Improved overclocking functions
• 125W PL1 TDP (flagship SKUs)

AMD Ryzen 7000 – Launching Mid-Q3 2022

AMD’s answer to Raptor Lake comes in the form of its Zen4-powered Ryzen 7000 processor series. For AMD, Ryzen 7000 is a big deal as it will debut on the brand new AM5 plug Platform. Since the launch of Ryzen, AMD has stuck with AM4 socket for five generations but Ryzen 7000 will finally bring a new platform with it. Not only that, Ryzen 7000 will be powered by Zen4 cores, built on TSMCit is 5nm node of processes, which are supposed to bring massive improvements at all levels.

Ryzen 7000 will therefore also be launched with a new platform chipset, X670which will be part of his new 600-series of motherboards. While Ryzen 7000 will launch with X670 motherboards, the B650 lineup will be released later, claims Enthusiast Citizen in late T3 or start of Q4 2022. Contrary to Intel’s strategy, AMD is unlikely to pair a few processors with its B560 motherboard launch, although we know that the B560 motherboards have already entered the pre-production stages due to a leak yesterday.

When it comes to actual processors, we’re looking at DDR5 memory and PCIe generation 5.0 support with up to 170W Maximum TDP in Flagship SKUs. Additionally, the AM5 socket is based on an LGA design (AM4 is PGA based), which means it will use the LGA1718 plug. AMD also hinted integrated graphics across the gamut for the first time in mainstream Ryzen history.

What is interesting, however, is how the 3D virtual cache The technology AMD previously tested on the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is no longer part of the Zen4 launch lineup. A recent leak from a credible source indicates how Zen 4 with 3D V-Cache will most likely launch in the first quarter of 2023after production targets for Zen3D (5800X3D) are filled first. So don’t expect huge cache sizes in Zen4 processors, at least in 2022.

More importantly, Enthusiast Citizen says we could see Zen4 processors being announced as soon as Computex 2022which one is inside May. This information coincides with a leak from December last year also claiming that Computex 2022 will be the launch of Ryzen 7000. However, this will only be an announcement event with the launch of the actual processors three months later, similar to Ryzen 5000.

Check out the Ryzen 7000 highlights below:

• New Zen4 processor cores (IPC / architectural improvements)
• New TSMC 5nm Process Node with 6nm IOD
• New AM5 platform with LGA1718 socket
• Dual channel DDR5 memory support
• 28 PCIe lanes (CPU only)
• TDP 105-120W (upper limit range ~170W)

The consumer wins in the end

While Team Red and Team Blue are ready to deploy their soldiers to the battlefield this year, it’s us, the illicit arms dealers, who sell weapons to both of them to reap the ultimate profits. This analogy may be a bit extreme, what I mean is that all this competition will only benefit us, consumers, in the end. AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Apple, all of these companies seem to be the most motivated right now due to the sheer amount of options available.

Today, it is more difficult than ever to win the consumer’s pocket, so stagnation and monopolistic behavior will no longer reduce it. Authentic innovation and fierce rivalry are what will impress the consumer. AMD and Intel have shown they are capable of both when they want it, and with demand at an all-time high, it won’t take much to win over the average crowd than just a quality product, at the right time and at the right price.