Intel recently made its Raptor Lake Refresh chips official, and indications point to a mid-October release for the first unlocked "K" processors. However, we shouldn't get too excited about leaks indicating that out of the box boost clocks of 6.2 GHz might be available. Today, Benchlife sources poured cold water on >6.0 GHz rumors, saying that the flagship Intel Core i9-14900K "may reach 6.0 GHz," at best. Notably, a 6.0 GHz boost clock for this CPU would only match the previous (current) gen Core i9-13900KS.
The initial batch of Intel 14th Gen Core 'Raptor Lake Refresh' chips for desktops will be a trio of unlocked CPUs: the Intel Core i5-14600K, Core i7-14700K, and Core i9-14900K (KF processors too). We expect Intel to differentiate the refreshed parts in a number of ways. Some chips might get an uplift in efficiency core (E-core) count, the amount of Smart Cache available, and / or clock speeds, but intergenerational changes will vary by SKU.
