Intel reportedly preparing surprise return to DDR4 systems with 'Raptor Lake Next' — LGA 1700 platform apparently slated for first half of 2027, takes a page from AMD's book by extending budget platform longevity

Some of the most interesting topics at Computex happen around the announcements themselves, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to Intel’s plans beyond Nova Lake. At the event, Tom’s Hardware heard that Intel has plans to launch “Raptor Lake Next” CPUs within the first half of 2027. The CPUs would mark the third refresh of Intel’s Raptor Lake range, which first debuted with 13th-Gen chips. The chips will reportedly live alongside Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake range, which the company intends to introduce at CES next year.

We don’t know the proper name of the CPUs yet, just that they’re referred to as “Raptor Lake Next” and will arrive some months after the first Nova Lake chips have hit the market. At least two motherboard vendors confirmed to Tom’s Hardware plans to increase production of DDR4 motherboards, both for AM4 and LGA 1700, citing increased DDR4 demand. They did not comment on Raptor Lake Next.

At this time, we simply know the name and a rough timeline when the chips are set to release, which follows a rumor that circulated in April about Intel’s plans to re-introduce Raptor Lake CPUs, as well as comments from Intel’s Robert Hallock that Raptor Lake will be “abundantly available” in the market. At the moment, Raptor Lake Refresh still holds the distinction of being Intel’s best CPU for gaming, with the new Core Ultra 7 270K Plus just narrowly falling short of the Core i9-14900K in games.

The specifications remain a mystery, as well as what exactly the range will look like. Recently, Intel introduced Bartlett Lake for embedded and industrial applications, which use exclusively P-cores and slot into the LGA 1700 socket. The flagship Core 9 273PQE goes up to 12 P-cores, four more than the Core i9-14900K. Bartlett Lake chips are socket-compatible with Raptor Lake platforms, though not supported through software.

Nonetheless, some enthusiasts have managed to get Bartlett Lake chips working on consumer 600-series and 700-series motherboards. Although we don’t know if Bartlett Lake will make an appearance for consumer applications under a different name, the mere existence of the range confirms Intel continues to produce Raptor Cove-based wafers on Intel 7.

We’ve corroborated the name Raptor Lake Next, but we still don’t know if it will be an entirely new range of processors. AMD recently reintroduced the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, turning back to DDR4 amid memory shortages, and it makes sense for Intel to do the same. That could simply look like an infusion of stock into the market and new price points, however.

Keep in mind that plans can change. Although we’ve heard the name from multiple sources, as well as confirmed an LGA 1700 ramp with vendors, even small details can change weeks before launch. If, say, memory prices drop severely in the next few months, that would almost certainly change Intel’s plans. For now, however, this is the rollout we’ve heard about.

Intel declined to comment on Raptor Lake Next at this time.

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