Prepare for one 24 cores laptop processor. At CES 2023, Intel unveiled its next-generation mobile chips based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Among them are the new high-performance 55W parts called the HX series.
The tippy top of the HX series is the Core i9 13980HX, a 24-core, 5.6 GHz mobile component that seems even more overkill than the last.
This Core i9 is, in fact, ripped straight from a Raptor Lake desktop processor. It’s again plugged into the laptop-friendly BGA socket (and a damn large footprint over the slimmer U-series), but otherwise the specs scream a desktop-grade processor. It offers a total of 24 cores, that is eight Performance cores (P-cores) and 16 Efficient cores (E-cores), putting it on par with the Core i9 13900K (opens in new tab) we familiarized ourselves with on the desktop.
If it already sounds like an exaggeration, there’s more. The Core i9 13980HX runs up to 5.6 GHz Max Turbo P-core clock. That is only 200 MHz less than the Core i9 13900K. Consider the 55W power envelope of the Core i9 13980HX and you wonder if the extra 200MHz was really worth the 253W the Core i9 13900K is known to pull from the wall. It’s worth saying that the mobile chip won’t be able to sustain the sort of clock speeds as long as the desktop chip stays within those power limits, and it can gobble up as much as 157W.
| processor | Cores (P+E) | Wires | Maximum P-core Turbo (GHz) | Base Processor Power/Maximum Turbo Power (W) | Pictures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9 13980HX | 8+16 | 32 | 5.6 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i9 13950HX | 8+16 | 32 | 5.5 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i9 13900HX | 8+16 | 32 | 5.4 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i7 13850HX | 8+12 | 28 | 5.3 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i7 13700HX | 8+8 | 24 | 5 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i7 13650HX | 6+8 | 20 | 4.9 | 55/157 | 16EU |
| Core i5 13600HX | 6+8 | 20 | 4.8 | 55/157 | 32EU |
| Core i5 13500HX | 6+8 | 20 | 4.7 | 55/157 | 16EU |
| Core i5 13450HX | 6+4 | 16 | 4.6 | 55/157 | 16EU |
Other key features of the 13th Gen HX Series include DDR5 and DDR4 support, x16 PCIe Gen5 lanes, and 32 EUs of built-in graphics capabilities – all generally similar to the 12th Gen mobile parts.
But when it comes to performance, the 13th Gen seems to be a lot faster in some cases.
Intel has massively increased the number of E-cores on its Raptor Lake processors over Alder Lake. No more than with its top Core i9 chips. The Core i9 13950HX comes with double the E-cores of the Core i9 12900HX, and that’s sure to deliver dramatic improvements to multithreaded performance on mobile as it does on desktop.
While rendering a scene in Blender, Intel reports a 74-79% performance improvement over the Core i9 12900HK from its own testing. That should come as no surprise: the Core i9 13950HX comes with dual E cores, two more P cores and runs 600MHz faster.
However, even against the Core i9 12900HX, the 13th generation chip is frighteningly fast.
While those advantages are less pronounced in benchmarks of Adobe’s creative app suite, they’re still pretty thick. In Premiere Pro, the Core i9 13950HX is 6% faster than the Core i9 12900HK. In Photoshop it is 12% faster and in After Effects 15%.
When it comes to gaming, the gains are more lukewarm, though the 13th Gen in particular is still pushing high frame rates.
The Core i9 13950HX is the biggest and baddest chip of the lot, meaning it’s the one Intel wants to publicize. It can certainly be found in only the most advanced gaming laptops and desktop replacements. For everything else, there’s the 45W H Series, 28W P Series and 15W U Series.
The 45W H series will appear in gaming laptops and I suspect in cheaper form factors than some of the HX series. You will probably find the best deals on these types of portable slots there.
On the desktop side, Intel has announced a slew of them new, cheaper 13th generation chips (opens in new tab) budding to be in your next build.