Intel has announced the discontinuation plans for its Unlocked 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S "Boxed" Desktop CPUs starting this quarter.
Intel Kills Off Its 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Unlocked Desktop "Boxed" CPUs, Seven SKUs Included In The EOL List
The latest update comes in the form of the product change notification "818660-00" which states the discontinuation of select boxed 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPUs. The date of publication is 21st March 2024 so it's very recent. The last date for OEMs and retailers to make orders for these chips is 24th May 2024 and the last shipments will be made by 28th June 2024. So it looks like Intel is going to streamline its desktop lineup and focus on the 14th Gen family.
Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPUs were first launched in late 2022, shortly after AMD's Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" desktop launch. The lineup initially included six SKUs, the Core i9-13900K/KF, i7-13700K/KF & the i5-13600K/KF. In the months ahead the launch of 65W & 35W SKUs along with a flagship Core i9-13900KS model which boosted clock speeds up to 6.0 GHz.
Today, all of these unlocked 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPUs are being EOL'd. Standard tray versions will still be available but the boxed versions which are largely aimed at DIY customers are going to be phased out. It makes sense for Intel to make such a move since the 14th Gen CPUs are already out on the market and offer better performance while retaining similar core configurations at the same price points.
The only reason that we might recommend going the 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU route is that certain retailers are offering big discounts on these chips. While the Core i9-14900K/KF CPUs are priced above $500 US, the Core i9-13900K/KF CPUs can be found close to $450 US which is a decent savings amount. You are also getting similar performance since that extra +200 MHz clock can only get you so much out of apps and games.
Products Affected:
- Boxed Intel Core i9-13900KS Processor DESKTOP BX8071513900KS
- Boxed Intel Core i9-13900K Processor DESKTOP BXC8071513900K
- Boxed Intel Core i9-13900KF Processor DESKTOP BXC8071513900KF
- Boxed Intel Core i7-13700K Processor DESKTOP BX8071513700K
- Boxed Intel Core i7-13700KF Processor DESKTOP BXC8071513700KF
- Boxed Intel Core i5-13600K Processor DESKTOP BXC8071513600K
- Boxed Intel Core i5-13600KF Processor DESKTOP BXC8071513600KF
The announcement also comes just a few months ahead of the Intel Arrow Lake-S and LGA 1851 CPU launch which is going to bring a whole new platform to DIY PC builders with a next-gen CPU architecture and other great features. The lineup is expected to be introduced at Computex 2024.
