Welcome to CES, where Intel routinely releases a large number of new processors. Periodically, we’ll also see some major capability updates to accompany them. 2023 is one of the less important years, and after analyzing the details surrounding the 40+ new options, I came to the conclusion that the latest version of Intel 13th generation The announcements can be summarized in five key points.
Only a few laptop CPUs promise significant speed gains
That’s because the Core i9-13980HX, i9-13950HX, i9-13900HX, and i7-13850HX, the premium CPUs designed for CPU-intensive gaming and graphics (like rendering), have twice as many efficient cores (E cores ) for a total of up to 24 cores and supports faster DDR5 memory than 12th Gen offerings. The rest just have tweaks and optimizations, allowing for a smooth increase in clock speed and battery life. For Chromebooks, the Core i3 N series is upgraded to the latest P core/E core hybrid architecture, which means you can experience noticeable performance improvements on high-end Chromebooks as well.
You will be able to overclock with any of the HX processors, which you could only do with the HK versions before. All SKUs shown support CPU, GPU, and memory overclocking. Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics will also be able to take advantage of a new Endurance Gaming setting, aimed at extending battery life while gaming. It does this by turning on Intel’s XeSS enhancement and capping the frame rate at 30fps, for all your desperate gaming needs.
The company highlighted laptops from the usual suspects — Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Asus, and Razer — as partners for the 13th-gen HX-series laptops.
Will likely see a quick jump to 13th Gen based offerings
New laptop CPUs and compatible chipsets can usually be installed directly into existing motherboards and have the same power and cooling requirements. It’s always a faster manufacturing turnaround when companies don’t need to significantly redesign hardware.
Intel
The desks advance
Intel released its flagship 13th-gen desktop CPUs in September, leaving the mainstream, low-power (for all-in-ones and other compact desktops), and cheap chips for CES, as it usually does. They’re not terribly interesting, as they also tend to be variations on last year’s theme. One bright spot is that Intel is bringing Bluetooth LE audio to desktops via motherboards that use its Killer Wireless modules.
Read more: The best desktop PCs
Evo expands beyond Intel graphics
Intel’s Evo program is its marketing primer for laptops that meet specific criteria that highlight all the great things you can get when you put Intel inside. These types of programs (AMD Advantage is another) typically require laptops to come with all of the latest and greatest hardware that the sponsoring company makes. So it’s notable that Intel now allows laptops with third-party (in other words, Nvidia and AMD) discrete graphics to qualify, in addition to its own Arc graphics. Also, with a note: Of the laptops that launched at CES, I don’t recall any that featured Intel Arc discrete graphics that I heard about before the show.
Previously announced features will begin rolling out
13th generation Core chips are backwards compatible with current 40 Gbps Ray 4 data transfer technology, just like the 12th generation processors, but with some improvements in laptop processors that are not in desktop equivalents. First, they support DisplayPort 2.1 video to run dual 4K monitors at 60 frames per second, and second, their USB speeds are doubled to 20Gbps. (The latest version of that technology, USB4, will reach 80 Gbps and 120 Gbps in some conditions when it arrives as soon as this year).
Other features include Intel Unison, which allows iPhone or Android devices to send and receive text messages, view and transfer photos, videos and files, and more with your PC or laptop. We will also see the Designed for Evo compatibility program that expands to Bluetooth mice, keyboards and Wi-Fi access points; and Intel’s addition of Bluetooth LE Audio (for better headset performance that consumes less battery power) to its Killer Wireless modules. Some laptops will also start incorporating Intel movidius vision processing unit, which Windows can use to enhance video conferencing experiences.
You can expect a lot more laptop, desktop, and PC component news at CES 2023, much of it based on these Intel chip announcements.
