Intel introduced the new desktop processor Core i9-13900KS, which it describes as the first processor in the industry to offer speeds up to 6 GHz without overclocking. Overclocking is the practice of delivering more power to a processor than it was originally designed for. Increasing the power of the chip improves its performance, but it also generates additional heat. To dissipate the heat caused by overclocking, users often need to install sophisticated hardware to cool their computers.

The new Core i9-13900KS has 24 cores capable of running up to 32 threads. Eight cores are based on a performance-optimized design focused on compute-intensive software. The Core i9-13900KS also features 18 efficient cores that balance some of the performance to improve energy efficiency.

“The Core i9-13900KS continues the excellence of our 13th generation Intel Core desktop processor family and showcases new performance peaks made possible by our performance hybrid architecture,” said Marcus Kennedy, general manager of Intel’s gaming division. “Extreme gamers and enthusiasts can now boost their daily performance more than ever with the PC industry’s first 6.0 GHz desktop processor.”

The Core i9-13900KS reaches a maximum clock speed of 6 GHz with two features known as Thermal Velocity Boost and Adaptive Boost Technology. According to Intel, the first feature can increase the clock speed of the processor by up to 100 megahertz when operating below a certain temperature. Adaptive Boost technology provides an additional boost in performance when two or more CPU cores are active.

The Core i9-13900KS is based on Intel’s latest Raptor Lake processor architecture. The architecture was implemented using an improved version of the company’s Intel 7 manufacturing process, also known as the 10 nanometer process. The Raptor Lake chip contains two sets of cores, one optimized for performance and the other prioritizing power efficiency.

The performance-optimized cores are based on a chip design that Intel calls the Raptor Cove. Compared to the company’s previous generation design, the Raptor Cove increases its maximum clock frequency by 600 megahertz. It also has significantly more cache, which is the on-board memory the chip uses to store the data it processes.

The chips optimize the use of onboard memory using a method known as cache prefetching. This method allows the processor to anticipate and retrieve in advance what data the program will need, which saves time. The result is an increase in processing speed.

In addition to the performance-optimized Raptor Cove core, the Raptor Lake architecture includes performance-optimized cores based on the Gracemont design. Intel used the same design in its previous generation desktop processors. But in Raptor Lake, the company has equipped the Gracemont cores with additional cache to optimize data processing.

Intel’s newly unveiled Core i9-13900KS chip will be available alongside dozens of Raptor Lake laptop processors that the company unveiled at CES 2023 last week. At the head of the series is the Core i9-13980HX. Described as the fastest laptop processor on the market, the Core i9-13980HX has 24 cores and a maximum clock speed of 5.6 GHz.