In context: Intel has long been tipped to launch its Raptor Lake Refresh lineup later this year, but the exact launch time frame remained a mystery. However, it has now been seemingly been solved by a reputable tipster who appears to have revealed exactly when Team Blue plans to launch its next-gen processor lineup.

According to a post by tipster Enthusiastic Citizen (ECSM) on Chinese video-sharing site Bilibili (via VideoCardz), Intel is planning to release the initial batch of its Raptor Lake Refresh (RPL-R) lineup during the 42nd week of 2023, which falls between October 17 and October 23. If the report turns out to be accurate, it won't be a major surprise since the original Raptor Lake lineup was launched on October 20, 2022.

The report also added that only the unlocked K-series RPL-R chips, like the Core i7-14700K for example, are set to launch this year, while the locked 'non-K' range is scheduled to debut during the first week of next year, most likely at CES 2024.

The tipster also provided some information on the Core i7-14700K, which is said to be a 20-core behemoth with 8 Performance cores and 12 Efficient cores. It is reportedly compatible with existing LGA1700 motherboards, but only after a BIOS update. The rest of the RPL-R chips, however, could be used with current LGA 1700 boards without any firmware updates.

The Bilibili post also shed some light on Intel's next-gen desktop platform, called Arrow Lake. It is expected to have an entirely different socket, probably LGA 1851, and a completely new platform, comprising the Z890, B860, and H810 chipsets. However, there seems to be no H870 chipset for the Arrow Lake processors.

ECSM did not share an exact launch date for Arrow Lake, but earlier reports claimed that it could be released in Q4, 2024. The most powerful chip in the Arrow Lake lineup could purportedly boast a whopping 40 cores, although it's unlikely to be cheap.

In addition to the aforementioned information, the tipster also claimed that AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series 'Storm Peak' processors for the data center might be released in the fourth quarter of this year, and there might be two new chipsets to match these CPUs. Finally, ECSM also said that Zen 5 is unlikely to be released this year despite some reports to the contrary.