For lack of technical novelties, Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh series pushes the frequency envelope.
The Raptor Lake Refresh series is an intermediate range designed to tide us over until the arrival of Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake, but it doesn't have much to offer. The cores implemented by Intel are identical to those of the previous generation (Raptor Cove + Gracemont), and whether it's a question of the number of cores, their operation or the integrated cache memory, everything is strictly identical to last year's Raptor Lake processors.
Intel does, however, appear to have optimized its manufacturing process, enabling it to gain a few megahertz. On the efficient cores - the small Gracemonts - we're talking about up to 100 MHz in boost frequency, while on the high-performance cores - the Raptor Cove - we're even talking up to 200 MHz in boost frequency. Gains that remain measured, but that have clearly given confidence to overclockers and, in particular, to the ASUS ROG team made up of experts such as Elmor, SkatterBencher, Shamino and Bing.
Using an ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 APEX ENCORE motherboard and a Core i9-14900KF, the team succeeded in breaking a frequency record that was more than ten years old. In November 2012, it was an AMD FX-8350 processor that signed the record frequency of 8,794.33 MHz. At the time, the frequency was scarcely believable, and today it remains a difficult mark to reach... Well, a little less so since the last few days and the flash of a Core i9-14900KF at 9,043.92 MHz, no less!
9.1 GHz? An unvalidated record
In fact, the team had even reached 9.1 GHz, but the frequency was not validated by the CPU-Z Validator tool. On their second attempt, the team therefore "only" reached 9,043.92 MHz, but this time the record was validated. It remains to be seen how long this record will stand, given that the Core i9-14900KF may yet conceal a few surprises.
