Intel Raptor Lake Refresh line-up leaked - and the mid-range CPUs look a threat to AMD

Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh desktop processors should arrive in a few months, and we've just been treated to a leak of the whole line-up, with some particularly interesting CPUs in the mid-range category.

YouTube leaker RedGamingTech (RGT) provided us with rumored core configurations for the Raptor Lake Refresh (14th-gen) desktop family, and we should regard these through seriously narrowed and skeptical eyes. As is the case with anything that comes trundling down the rails from rumor-town.

Without any further caveating, let's look at the purported chips and their respective core counts as RGT asserts they will be:

• Core i9-14900/K/F: 8 performance cores + 16 efficiency cores
• Core i7-14700/K/F: 8 performance cores + 12 efficiency cores
• Core i5-14600/K/F: 8 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
• Core i5-14500: 6 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
• Core i5-14400/F: 6 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores
• Core i3-14300: 6 performance cores
• Core i3-14100/F: 6 performance cores

As you can see, this aligns with previous chatter that while the flagship Core i9-14900K will keep the same core count - just upping its clock speeds somewhat to get better performance - the 14700K is looking to add a bunch of extra efficiency cores (it'll have 12, rather than 8 as with the 13700K).

Another major move with increasing core counts comes with the next CPU down, the Core i5-14600K, which will have 8 performance cores instead of 6 with the 13600K, we're told,

Bringing an extra pair of performance cores into the equation with that cheaper mid-range processor could be a real power move for Intel, but we must remember that this is just speculation right now - and elsewhere the rumor mill hasn't indicated this will happen (unlike the change with the 14700K).

If true, Intel is really bulking up its mid-range stars here, and that should make meaningful differences to performance. A 14700K leak has shown this CPU is a good deal faster than its predecessor for multi-core performance, as you might expect given that cluster of additional efficiency cores.

More cores for celebration?

We should further note that the Core i5-14400 is also apparently doubling the efficiency cores (from 4 with the 13400, to 8 here) according to RGT, and that's another eye-opener. Depending on the exact pricing, this could be an excellent affordable CPU. (Again, though, this isn't a chip we've heard anything about on the rumor mill elsewhere regarding it being pepped up).

Of course, a lot will depend on exactly where Intel goes with pricing for the whole range of Raptor Lake Refresh processors. Fingers crossed that the value proposition will be strong with the 14th-gen chips, which are rumored to be arriving in mid-October.

The 'K' models (unlocked processors) will debut first, with the theory being that the vanilla CPUs (non-K) should turn up at the start of next year (likely at CES - that means the Core i5-14400, of course, which won't have a K spin). The real powerhouse next-gen chips for Intel, however, are coming with Arrow Lake, which should pitch up towards the end of 2024. All eyes are on that generation, really, for a potentially huge performance leap.