Words & Conclusion

Final Words 

When Raptor Lake processors finally came out, it opened up a lot of platform options next to a much-welcomed increase in performance and platform features. This is a significant advantage compared to AMD Ryzen 7000, which needs a new platform. As shown by this DDR4-based motherboard, there will not be a big difference in performance. Let me remind you that if you choose a firmware update and a B660/Z690 motherboard that is ready for Raptor lake, you can upgrade to the latest core series processors with only a slight increase in the cost as you can re-use your motherboard and DDR4. And the processors work well with DDR4.

Performance

As said, we used a DDR4 3600 MHz kit for this evaluation, and the performance will not disappoint; granted, overall performance levels can vary by a few per cent at most, but you would likely never notice the difference in real-world application performance as a PC user. The larger question is whether DDR4 is significantly different from DDR5. Yes and no is the answer. CPU/MEM-based bottlenecks cannot be observed on a standard graphics card. With a card such as the RTX 3090 or 4090, we can see a bit of a performance differential. However, it's a very acceptable one. That disparity will exceed the advantage of a smaller cost bill regarding game performance. The MSI DDR4 motherboard we tested was based on the Z790 chipset, so it includes the latest and finest features including WIFI6E and Ethernet-based on 2.5 Gbps. Additionally, the EDGE has an improved phase power configuration backed by 90A stages. Our appraisal of PCIe 5.0 is as follows: at this time and stage, it is not required for graphics cards, and while for soon-to-be-released SSDs it may be a pleasant gimmick, we doubt that anything will be much different besides sustained performance. At this time, it is not a compelling enough factor for us.

Energy efficiency

The Core i9-13900K is a processor rated at a staggering max 253 Watts TDP (PL2) states. That does not mean the processor runs that all the time, however for short bursts of time when needed it can pull that wattage. Overall the temperatures peak high, but only for a short time. We see better overall values than what AMD is offering with the 7950X. You could cool this processor with a premium heatpipe-based cooler however we'd advise a nice LCS kit. Our processor reached 96C for a short burst of time and settles in the ~85c under a full 32-threaded load. We did notice higher-than-average all-core power consumption. However, the MSI BIOS detects water cooling, and if present it opens up much longer and has the highest PL2 states.

The conclusion

We are not discontented with DDR4's performance on what is designed to be a DDR5 platform. Raptor Lake's success is likely due to the ability to reuse your B660/Z690 motherboard (firmware upgrade required) and DDR4 memory. This will save you a lot of money. If you require a new motherboard, the MSI Z790 EDGE comes in DDR4 and DDR5 configurations. As previously indicated, the performance differences will be very acceptable; nonetheless, if you intend to purchase hyper-expensive premium graphics cards (anything higher than RTX 3090 upwards to RTX 4090), we recommend going the DDR5 route. However, DDR4 will be sufficient overall. MSI has a very interesting motherboard; however, it costs $369, which is a lot of money for a motherboard. Please be aware that the DDR5 version will cost even more. The motherboard works well and is stable; we plugged in a random 3600 MHz kit DDR4 memory, enabled the XMP profile, and booted into Windows with no problems. In addition, with five M2 NVMe SSDs that can be housed behind heatsinks, you will have proper WIFI6E, a 2.5 Gbps ethernet connector, and some fine power phase. Overall, it is a beautiful motherboard with a sleek, modern silver appearance that does not resort to RGB bling too much, just the dragon logo. However, if you want to build an entirely new PC, you'll still face a relatively high total cost of ownership. 

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