Intel Z790 motherboards will soon be available for the 13th generation of Raptor Lake Desktop processors and will offer improved support for DDR5 and DDR4 memory.
Intel Z790 motherboards will provide faster DDR5 and DDR4 memory support for 13th generation Raptor Lake processors
In the datasheet that Video Cards leaked to me, apparently from MSI, we can see that Z790 motherboards will offer faster DDR5 and DDR4 memory speeds compared to current Z690 motherboards. A total of three motherboards are listed, one with DDR5 support and one with DDR4 support.
MSI’s Intel Z790 DDR5 motherboard data sheet (Image credit: Videocardz):
According to the datasheet, the DDR5 Z790 motherboard will feature four DIMM slots supporting 128GB with the speeds listed as:
- 1 DIMM per channel (1 rating) – up to DDR5-6800 +
- 1 DIMM per channel (1 rating) – up to DDR5-6400 +
- 2 DIMMs per channel (2-Rank) – up to DDR5-6400 +
- 2 DIMMs per channel (2-Rank) – up to DDR5-5600+
Regarding Z790 DDR4 motherboards, it seems that the maximum memory speed supported here will reach DDR4-5333+. Here are the listed speeds for the faster Z790 DDR4 configuration:
- 1 DIMM per channel (1 rating) – up to DDR4-5333 +
- 1 DIMM per channel (1 rating) – up to DDR4-4800+
- 2 DIMMs per channel (2-Rank) – up to DDR4-4400+
- 2 DIMMs per channel (2-Rank) – up to DDR4-4000+
MSI’s Intel Z790 DDR4 motherboard data sheet (Image credit: Videocardz):
In Z690 motherboards, the fastest memory speeds are listed as follows for DDR5 and DDR4 motherboards in each segment respectively.
- MEG (DDR5) – up to DDR5-6666+
- MPG (DDR5) – up to DDR5-6666 +
- MAG (DDR5) – up to DDR5-6400 +
- MPG (DDR4) – up to DDR5-5200 +
- MAG (DDR4) – up to DDR4-5200 +
For comparison, the selected AMD X670E motherboards to date range from DDR5-6600 to DDR5-6000 speeds. We recently reported on ASRock’s X670E and Biostar’s X670E Valkyrie motherboards that recently got detailed specifications. You can read more about it here.
Biostar X670E Valkyrie motherboard:
- Supports dual channel DDR5 6000+ (OC) / 5800 (OC) / 5600 (OC) / 5400 (OC) / 5200 (OC) / 5000 (OC) / 4800
- 4 x DDR5 DIMM memory slot, max support 128GB memory
- Each DIMM supports a non-ECC 8/16/32 GB DDR5 module
ASRock X670E Taichi Carrera motherboard
- Dual Channel DDR5 Memory Technology
- 4 DDR5 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR5 ECC / No ECC, up to 6600+ unbuffered memory (OC)
- Maximum system memory capacity: 128 GB
- Supports Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP) and Extended Memory Module Profiles (EXPO)
Intel Z790 motherboards will launch in October with the 13th generation of Raptor Lake processors. Motherboards will have PCIe Gen 5.0 and DDR5 memory support. There will be no PCIe Gen 5.0 M.2 slot connected directly to the Gen 5 CPU lanes unless board manufacturers decide to split the individual GPU lanes x16.
Expected Features of the 13th Generation Intel Raptor Lake Desktop Processors:
- Up to 24 cores and 32 threads
- Brand New Raptor Cove CPU Cores (Top IPC P-Core)
- Based on 10nm ESF ‘Intel 7’ processing node
- Clock speeds up to 6.0 GHz (expected)
- Double electronic cores in some versions
- Increased cache for both P-Cores and E-Cores
- Supported on current LGA 1700 motherboards
- New Z790, H770 and B760 motherboards
- Up to 28 PCIe slots (PCH Gen 4 + Gen 3)
- Up to 28 PCIe slots (Gen 5 x16 + Gen 4 x12 CPU)
- Dual channel DDR5-5600 . memory support
- 20 PCIe Gen 5 slots
- Improved overclocking features
- 125W PL1 TDP (Flag SKU)
- AI PCIe M.2
- Fourth launch of 2022 (maybe in October)
The 13th generation Intel Raptor Lake desktop processors including the flagship Core i9-13900K are expected to be launched in October on the Z790 platform. The processors will face AMD’s Ryzen 7000 family of processors which will also launch in fall 2022.
Comparison of Intel Raptor Lake and ‘expected’ AMD Raphael desktop CPUs
| family of wizards | AMD Rafael (RPL-X) | Intel Raptor LLC (RPL-S) |
|---|---|---|
| Operation knot | TSMC 5nm | Intel 7 |
| Architectural Engineering | Zen 4 (Chiplet) | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) |
| SKU . flag | Ryzen 9 7950X | Core i9-13900 K |
| Cores/Threads | up to 32/16 | up to 24/32 |
| Total L3 Cache | 64 MB (+ 3D V-Cache) | 36 MB |
| Total L2 cache | 16 megabytes | 32 MB |
| Total cache | 80 mega | 68 MB |
| Max Klux (1T) | 5.7 GHz | 5.8 GHz |
| Memory support | DDR5 | DDR5 / DDR4 |
| memory channels | 2 channels (2DPC) | 2 channels (2DPC) |
| Memory speeds | DDR5-5600 | DDR5-5600 DDR4 – 3200 |
| Platform support | 600 Series (X670E / X670 / B650 / A620) | 600 Series (Z690/H670/B650/H610) 700- Series (Z790/H770/B760) |
| PCIe Gen 5.0 | Both GPU and M.2 (maximum chipsets only) | Both GPU and M.2 (700 series only but split) |
| Integrated graphics | AMD RDNA 2 | Intel Iris XE |
| socket | AM5 (LGA 1718) | LGA 1700/1800 |
| TDP (Max.) | 170 watts (TDP) 230 Watts (PPT) | 125 W (PL1) 240 W + (PL2) |
| release | September 2022 | October 2022 |
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