Intel launches Limited Edition i9-13900KS CPU for £689.99

Intel clocks Raptor Lake to 6GHz with their i9-13900KS CPU

Intel has today released their i9-13900KS processor, a Limited Edition Raptor Lake series CPU that delivers peak clock speeds of 6GHz out of the box, making this Intel’s fastest CPU to date. 

In essence, Intel’s Core i9-13900KS is an i9-13900K with higher base and boost clock speeds and a TDP that is 25 watts higher (150W vs 125W). Fundamentally, the i9-13900KS uses the same silicon as its K-series counterpart, but its higher clock speeds will grant it higher performance levels out of the box.

Intel’s i9-13900KS is a 24-core CPU that features eight P-cores and sixteen E-cores and an Intel UHD 770 integrated graphics chip. Intel calls their i9-13900KS the world’s first CPU to reach 6 GHz clock speeds without overclocking, and it is compatible with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory and Z790 and Z690 series motherboards.

In the Overclockers UK, Intel’s i9-13900KS is priced at £689.99, and at Scan UK the CPU is priced at £699.98. This pricing makes Intel’s i9-13900KS £60-£100 more expensive than Intel’s i9-13900K, depending on your chosen retailer.

With core clock speeds that can boost as high as 6GHz, Intel’s i9-13900KS is now the company’s fastest gaming CPU. The i9-13900KS is Intel’s answer to AMD’s planned Ryzen 7000 X3D processors, which aim to overwhelm Intel’s raw P-core throughput with a large amount of L3 cache.

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs and Intel’s Raptor Lake processors will be interesting competitors within the gaming market, with AMD’s X3D Ryzen CPUs having a huge advantage in cache-sensitive workloads while Intel’s Raptor Lake CPUs tend to offer higher levels of single-threaded CPU processing throughput and can generally support fast DDR5 DRAM speeds. This will create situations where AMD and Intel will trade blows on a game-by-game basis, making neither CPU the “best gaming CPU”. 

You can join the discussion on Intel’s i9-13900KS processor on the OC3D Forums.