It’s no secret that Intel is preparing the Core i9-13900KS to rival the best CPUs on the market. The special edition Raptor Lake processor will boost to an impressive 6 GHz; however, early benchmarks have revealed that the Core i9-13900KS may not be much faster than the Core i9-13900K, the existing flagship Raptor Lake chip.
The Core i9-13900KS retains the same recipe as the Core i9-13900K, which will wield 24 cores and 32 threads. In addition, the configuration consists of eight P-cores and 16 E-cores. Therefore, the Core i9-13900KS’ performance uplift will come entirely from the improved clock speeds. The regular Core i9-13900K hits 5.8 GHz through Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology, whereas the Core i9-13900KS will reach 6 GHz. The extra 200 MHz will lift the Core i9-13900KS slightly over the Core i9-13900K.
Hardware detective Benchleaks (opens in new tab) uncovered three Geekbench 5 submissions for the Core i9-13900K. We’ve used the highest result for comparison to get an idea of the best-case scenario. The test system’s other components included the Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero and an ultra-fast 32GB DDR5-7200 memory kit.
Intel Core i9-13900KS Benchmarks
| Processor | Single-Core Score | Multi-Core Score |
|---|---|---|
| Core i9-13900KS | 2,319 | 26,774 |
| Core i9-13900K | 2,227 | 24,311 |
| Ryzen 9 7950X | 2,192 | 22,963 |
| Core i9-12900KS | 2,081 | 19,075 |
| Core i9-12900K | 1,988 | 17,324 |
Note: Non-Core i9-13900K scores are from Geekbench 5’s processor database.
The Core i9-13900K delivered 4.1% higher single-core performance than the Core i9-13900K. The chip also outperformed the Core i9-12900KS and Core i9-12900K by 11.4% and 16.6%, respectively. The Core i9-13900KS also exhibited 5.8% higher single-core performance than the Ryzen 9 7950X, AMD’s current Ryzen 7000 flagship.
In terms of multi-core performance, the Core i9-13900K was up to 10.1% faster than the Core i9-13900K. It also jumped ahead of the Core i9-12900KS and Core i9-12900K by 40.4% and 54.5%, respectively. On the other hand, the Ryzen 9 7950X was no match for the Core i9-13900KS, either, with the 6 GHz chip obtaining a 16.6% higher multi-core score.
With the Core i9-12900KS, Intel had the fastest gaming processor that money could buy. Unfortunately for the Blue Team, AMD later snatched the title with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. As a result, Intel aims to recover the crown with the Core i9-13900KS. However, word on the street is that AMD is reportedly cooking up to three Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache chips for 2023, so it will be an excellent year for gamers with many formidable gaming options.