In his keynote address at Intel Innovation 2022, Intel CEO and push-up (open in new tab) enthusiast Pat Gelsinger announced the 13th generation processor, commonly known as Raptor Lake. The top of the line processor, the Core i9 13900K, will deliver clock speeds of up to 5.8 GHz. And 6 GHz is just around the corner.

Intel is making a big deal about the performance of these Raptor Lake CPUs, with the Core i9 13900K leading the way and potentially breaking several overclocking records (opens in new tab). Intel has promised to bring out a Core i9 model that exceeds 6 GHz "right out of the box" starting early next year, which Gelsinger calls an "industry first" and "a major milestone for client computing." There is no doubt that it is the Core i9 13900KS.

Intel released its first 1Ghz CPU more than 20 years ago, when Gelsinger had just become vice president of Intel's Desktop Group. At launch, Intel has six 13th generation processors available, three with on-board graphics (Intel's UHD Graphics 770) and three without. All are intended to compete with AMD's Zen 4-powered Ryzen 7000 chip (opens in new tab), which was released earlier this week.

The Intel 13th generation CPU family is scheduled to debut on October 20 with K-series chips, with prices starting at $294 for the Core i5, $384 for the Core i7, and $564 for the Core i9. The good news is that the pricing for these chips is almost in line with the 12th generation products (open in new tab).

Intel has not stated a specific price or release date for the 6GHz Core i9 CPUs outside of the "early next year" box, but they will be available in "limited quantities". We will be the first to provide more details as they become available.