Intel may be introducing a major cache redesign in its upcoming 13th Generation Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs to tackle AMD's V-Cache solution.
Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs Rumored To Feature More Cores & 55% Increased Cache For Improved Gaming Performance
As per a tweet by OneRaichu, it looks like Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs are in for a major cache redesign. Currently, the Intel Alder Lake CPUs feature up to 44 MB of cache, that's 30 MB of L3 and 14 MB of L2 cache. But with 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, the cache is said to get a boost of up to 55%.
https://twitter.com/OneRaichu/status/1481893326425292800
2*8+4*4+3*12😋
— ns4e921 (@ns4e921) January 14, 2022
The leaker states that the Intel Raptor Lake CPUs would feature up to 68 MB of combined cache (without adding L1 numbers). Intel definitely isn't going to make use of any vertically stacked cache solution as of now or with Meteor Lake CPUs as we have already seen test chips without vertical stacking technology but there sure is a future for that at Intel. For now, Intel is just going to offer more cache within the CPU dies though we don't have the specifics or the exact number of L3/L2 cache that will be featured per chip.
The Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs come with 1280 KB of L2 and 3072 KB of L3 cache per core while the Gracemont cores feature 2048 KB of L2 and 3072 KB of L3 cache per cluster (a cluster comprises four Gracemont cores). We know that Raptor Lake CPUs will come with a brand new Raptor Cove core design and will offer up to 24 cores and 32 threads. That's 8 Raptor Cove and 16 Gracemont Enhanced cores for the top SKU for a total of 32 threads. If the existing cache counts are to be considered, then that's 36 MB of L3 cache for all cores and 18 MB of L2 cache which gives us a total of 54 MB of Smart Cache for the top SKU. But as said before, Rapor Lake might give us an even higher per-core cache count.
It is estimated that for 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, Intel is going to feature 2 MB L2 / 3 MB L3 cache per Raptor Cove core while each Gracemont Cluster will feature 4 MB L2 and 3 MB L3 cache. That's going to give us 36 MB L3 cache across all cores, 16 MB (2x8) for P-cores & 16 MB (4x4) for E-cores.
Intel Raptor Lake & Alder Lake CPU Cache Configurations (Rumored):
- Raptor Lake P-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 8 = 24MB)
- Alder Lake P-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 8 = 24 MB)
- Raptor Lake P-Core L2 - 2 MB (2 x 8 = 16 MB)
- Alder Lake P-Core L2 - 1.25 MB (1.25 x 8 = 10 MB)
- Raptor Lake E-Core L3 - 3 MB (3 x 4 = 12 MB)
- Alder Lake E-Core L3 - 2 MB (2 x 2 = 4 MB)
- Raptor Lake E-Core L2 - 4 MB (4 x 4 = 16 MB)
- Alder Lake E-Core L2 - 3 MB (3 x 2 = 6 MB)
- Raptor Lake Total Cache (L3+L2) = 68 MB
- Alder Lake Total Cache (L3 + L2) = 44 MB
If this ends up being true, we are looking at a 55% increase to the total cache count for Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs. Now AMD will still retain the edge with its standard Non-V-Cache parts that are equipped with 64 MB of L3 cache and 96 MB on the V-Cache SKUs but this would mean that the blue team can recoup its lead quite significantly with the added cache and core count along with a higher clock speed that is expected from a further improved 10ESF (Intel 7) process node.
Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Lineup & Configurations
According to the leaked data, the lineup will consist of three segments that were leaked out in the recent power recommendations. These include the 'K' series enthusiast SKUs rated at 125W, 65W mainstream SKUs, and 35W low-power SKUs. Coming to the top-end variants, we will be getting up to 24 cores followed by 16 core, 10 core, 4 core, and 2 core variants. The SKUs are detailed below:
- Intel Core i9 K-Series (8 Golden + 16 Grace) = 24 Cores / 32 Threads / 68 MB?
- Intel Core i7 K-Series (8 Golden + 8 Grace) = 16 Cores / 24 Threads / 54 MB?
- Intel Core i5 K-Series (6 Golden + 8 Grace) = 14 Cores / 20 Threads / 44 MB?
- Intel Core i5 S-Series (6 Golden + 4 Grace) = 14 Cores / 16 Threads / 37 MB?
- Intel Core i3 S-Series (4 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 8 Threads / 20 MB?
- Intel Pentium S-Series (2 Golden + 0 Grace) = 4 Cores / 4 Threads / 10 MB?
The enthusiast 125W Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop SKUs will feature Core i9 models featuring up to 8 Raptor Cove cores and 16 Gracemont cores for a total of 24 cores and 32 threads. Intel's Core i7 lineup will consist of 16 core (8+8), Core i5 models will consist of 14 core (6+8) and 10 core (6+4) & finally, we have the Core i3 models which will feature 4 cores but without any efficiency cores. The lineup will also include Pentium SKUs which will feature just 2 Raptor Cove cores. All Core variants will feature a 32 EU (256 core) enhanced Xe integrated GPU. Certain Core i5 and Pentium variants will also come configured with 24 EU and 16 EU iGPUs.
Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU Power Requirements
Coming to the power requirements, the Intel Raptor Lake-S 125W variant will feature a PL1 rating of 125W (125W in performance mode), PL2 rating of 188W (253W in performance mode) & a PL4 rating of 238W (314W in performance mode). You can notice that the PL4 rating is lower due to the newly introduced reactive operation but the PL2 rating has gone slightly up compared to Intel Alder Lake (253W vs 241W).
The same is the case with the 65W Alder Lake chips which have a PL1 rating of 65W (65W in perf mode), PL2 rating of 133W (219W in perf mode), and a PL4 rating of 179W (277W in perf mode). In the end, we have the Intel Alder Lake-S 35W variants which have a PL1 rating of 35W (35W in perf mode), PL2 rating of 80W (106W in perf mode), and a PL4 rating of 118W (152W in perf mode).
Intel Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs Power Ratings
| CPU TDP Segment | 125W | 65W | 35W |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alder Lake PL2 | 188W (241W Perf) | 126W (202W Perf) | 78W (106W Perf) |
| Raptor Lake PL2 | 188W (253W Perf) | 133W (219W Perf) | 80W (106W Perf) |
| Alder Lake PL4 | 283W (359W Perf) | 195W (311W Perf) | 131W (171W Perf) |
| Raptor Lake PL4 | 238W (314W Perf) | 179W (277W Perf) | 118W (152W Perf) |
| Peak Wattage Increase (Alder Lake vs Raptor Lake PL2 Perf) | +5% | +5.5% | +2.5% |
| Peak Wattage Increase (Alder Lake vs Raptor Lake PL4 Perf) | -19% | -9% | -11% |
The Intel Raptor Lake CPU lineup will launch around the same time as AMD's Zen 4 Rapahel family that will comprise next-generation Ryzen Desktop CPUs. The new AM5 platform is confirmed to get DDR5 support while Raptor Lake might offer both DDR5 and DDR4 flavored motherboards.
Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison:
| Intel CPU Family | Processor Process | Processor Architecture | Graphics Architecture | Processors Cores/Threads (Max) | Platform | Memory Support | PCIe Support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alder Lake (12th Gen) | Intel 7 | Golden Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 16/24 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2022 |
| Raptor Lake Refresh (14th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 24/32 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2023 |
| Meteor Lake | Intel 4 | Redwood Cove (P-Core) Crestmont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 22/28 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 24/24 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake Refresh | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe1 (Alchemist) | 24/24 | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2026 |
| Lunar Lake | TSMC N3B | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | Xe2 (Battlemage) | 8/8 | Mobile Only | LPDDR5X | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Panther Lake | Intel 18A | Cougar Cove (P-Core) Darkmont (E-Core) | Xe3 (Battlemage) | 16/16 | Mobile Only | LPDDR5/LPDDR5X | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2025 |
| Raptor Lake Next | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | HD 700 Series | 20/24 | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2027 |
| Nova Lake | Intel 18A | Coyote Cove (P-Core) Arctic Wolf (E-Core) | Xe3 (Battlemage) Xe3P (Celestial) | 52/52 | LGA 1954 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2027 |
| Razor Lake | Intel 18A? | Griffin Cove (P-Core) Golden Eagle (E-Core) | TBA | TBA | LGA 1954 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2027 |
| Titan Lake | TBA | Copper Shark (Unified) Golden Eagle (E-Core) | TBA | TBA | Mobile Only | LPDDR6? | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2028 |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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