Intel Bartlett Lake: Flagship CPU with 12 P-Cores Falls Behind Four-Year-Old i9-13900K in Gaming

Intel’s new Core 9 273PQE processor, the flagship model of the Bartlett Lake lineup, failed to outperform the four-year-old Core i9-13900K in gaming benchmarks. Despite being positioned as a solution for enthusiasts seeking a chip with performance-focused P-cores, the test results were disappointing.

The Core 9 273PQE features 12 Raptor Cove P-cores, 50% more than the Core i9-13900K or Core i9-14900K. Its clock speeds also exceed those of the i9-13900K and approach the i9-14900K. However, real-world tests conducted by German publication PC Games Hardware showed the processor delivering performance on par with the Ryzen 7 9700X and Core i5-14600K, trailing the i9-13900K when using high-performance DDR5-6000 memory.

One reason for the lackluster performance was limited memory support: the chip was tested on an ASRock IMB-X1714 motherboard with the W680 chipset, which restricts compatibility to two DDR5-5600 modules. While the i9-13900K demonstrated a 9.66% performance boost with faster memory, the Core 9 273PQE showed no improvement. Additionally, the lack of optimization for mainstream applications and games, which rarely utilize more than eight cores, reduced the effectiveness of the extra P-cores.

Intel initially positioned the Bartlett Lake lineup as a solution for OEMs and embedded systems, limiting fine-tuning and high-performance component compatibility. As a result, despite its architectural advantages, the Core 9 273PQE failed to meet enthusiast expectations, even falling behind older models in key scenarios.