Welcome to CES, where Intel regularly drops a boatload of new processors. Periodically, we’ll also see significant ability upgrades to go along with them as well. 2023 is one of the lesser years, and after going through the details surrounding the more than 40 new picks, I’ve concluded that Intel’s last 13th generation The ads can be roughly summed up in five key points.
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Only a few laptop processors promise significant speed gains
That’s because the Core i9-13980HX, i9-13950HX, i9-13900HX, and i7-13850HX – high-end processors aimed at gaming and CPU-intensive graphics (like rendering) – have twice the effective cores ( E) cores to achieve up to 24 total cores and supports faster DDR5 memory than 12th Gen offerings. The others just have tweaks and optimizations, which allow for a slight increase in clock speeds and battery life. For Chromebooks, the Core i3 N series is updated 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 previously you could only do with the HK versions. All featured SKUs 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, intended to extend battery life during games. It does this by enabling Intel’s XeSS scaling and limiting the frame rate to 30fps, for all your desperate gaming needs.
The company has highlighted laptops from the usual suspects – Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Asus and Razer – as partners for the 13th-gen HX-series laptops.
You’ll likely see a quick jump to 13th Gen-based offerings
New laptop processors and supporting chipsets can usually be built directly into existing motherboards and have the same power and cooling requirements. It’s always faster manufacturing change when companies don’t need to drastically redesign hardware.
Intel
Desktop computers turn on
Intel launched its 13th-generation flagship desktop processors 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 very interesting, as they too tend to be variations on last year’s theme. One bright spot is that Intel is bringing Bluetooth LE audio to desktop computers through motherboards that use its Killer Wireless modules.
Read more: Best Desktop PCs
Evo expands beyond Intel graphics
Intel’s Evo program is its marketing imprimatur for laptops that meet specific criteria that highlight all the wonderful things you can get when you put Intel inside. These types of programs – AMD Advantage being another – usually require laptops to incorporate all the latest and greatest hardware manufactured by the sponsoring company. It should therefore be noted that Intel now allows laptops with third-party discrete graphics (in other words, Nvidia and AMD) to qualify, in addition to its own Arc graphics. Also, noting: of the laptops launched at CES, I don’t recall any featuring Intel Arc discrete graphics that I heard about prior to the show.
Previously announced features will begin rolling out
13th generation Core chips support current Thunderbolt 4 40 Gbps data transfer technology, just like 12th generation processors, but with some enhancements from laptop processors that aren’t on 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 this technology, USB 4, will reach 80Gbps and 120 Gbps under certain conditions when it arrives this year.)
Other features include Intel Unison, which allows iPhone or Android devices to send and receive text messages, view and transfer photos, videos, files and more with your PC or laptop. We will also see the Designed for Evo compatibility program extending to Bluetooth mice, keyboards and Wi-Fi access points, and Intel’s addition of Bluetooth LE Audio (for better, less battery-hungry headset operation) to its Killer Wireless modules. Some laptops will also start integrating Intel Movidius vision processing unit, which Windows can use to improve video conferencing experiences.
You can expect a lot more laptop, desktop, and PC component news at CES 2023, largely around these Intel chip announcements.
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