Intel has yet to formally announce and start shipments of its unlocked Core i9-13900K 'Raptor Lake' processor, but some of its synthetic benchmark results have already been published. The flagship CPU already tops PassMark's single-thread rankings, beating predecessors and processors from AMD and Apple (as noticed by @Tum_Apisak).
Intel's Core i9-13900K processor has eight high-performance cores operating at 3.0 GHz base clock and 16 energy-efficient working at 2.20 GHz base frequency. However, when maximum single-thread performance is needed, it turns on Thermal Velocity Boost and skyrockets high-performance cores to an impressive 5.80 GHz (at 241W). The CPU scores 4,883 points in PassMark's single-thread performance benchmark, which is 471 points higher than Intel's Core i9-12900KS.
In fact, Intel's 12th Generation Core i7 and Core i9 'Alder Lake' processors have led PassMark single-thread CPU performance rankings for a while now. Mostly because of high clocks and high IPC execution, these processors dethroned Apple's M1 system-on-chip that topped this benchmark throughout 2021.
Yet, Apple's single-thread efficiency speaks for itself: in a bid to beat Apple's M2 processor (up to 3.50 GHz at 22W ~ 30W), Intel's Core i9-13900K (up to 5.80 GHz at 241W) had to work at a 65% higher frequency while consuming almost an order of magnitude more power. Of course, Intel's new flagship CPU has 24 (8P+16E) cores and can process up to 32 threads per clock, beating all of Apple's offerings in synthetic benchmarks.
Meanwhile, Intel's yet-to-be-released Core i9-13900K is not the best high-end CPU in PassMark's general CPU benchmark that takes into account both single-thread and multi-thread performance. AMD's Ryzen Threadripper processors clearly lead the game here. For now, the Core i9-13900K leaves behind AMD's previous-generation Ryzen 9 5950X by a comfortable margin. However, in a few days, AMD's next-generation Ryzen 9 7950X enters the arena, and we are eager to see whether it beats Intel's offering.
While the results of Intel's upcoming Core i9-13900K processor seem legit, take them with a grain of sale as we might be dealing with pre-production hardware with all possible consequences.
