Intel Core i5-13600K CPU Review

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Gaming Performance Cont.

In order to test gaming performance properly and really get a good feel for it, and cover all the bases for the big picture, we decided to test 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, all three resolutions to see from top to bottom how these CPUs affect performance games. For testing, we are using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Founders Edition video card. Since we are testing all 3 resolutions, it’ll be a good mix to see where the CPU matters and where it doesn’t.

All the graphs below are not sorted, they are not sorted from fastest to slowest as in previous graphs, instead, they are simply labeled in groups by platform, from fastest CPU to least fastest CPU. As you look at performance, try to look down the column of the resolution, to see which one is faster than the other, to help your eyes see which one is faster.

Cyberpunk 2077

Intel Core i5-13600K Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077 performance at 4K is very similar. At 1440p we start to see some differences, and the new Intel Core i5-13600K is at the top of performance, edging out the 5800X3D by 3% and the 7600X by 6%. At 1080p the 13600K improves performance over the 7600X by 4% and the 5800X3D by 3%.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Intel Core i5-13600K Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

Flight Sim greatly benefits from new CPUs, either Ryzen 7000 series or the Intel 13th Gen. At 4K the 13600K matches performance with the Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. It improves upon the 12600K by 7%, and this is at 4K. At 1440p the 13600K is just under the 7600X, but faster than the 5800X. The same is true at 1080p.

Crysis Remastered

Intel Core i5-13600K Crysis Remastered

In Crysis Remastered the Intel Core i5-13600K is on par with everything else at 4K. At 1440p it is 6% faster than the Ryzen 5 7600X and 3% faster than the 12600K. At 1080p the 13600K is 5% faster than the 7600X and nudges out over the 5800X3D. It’s also 9% faster than the 12600K.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Intel Core i5-13600K Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, everything is the same at 4K. At 1440p, it’s also very close. At 1080p though, we see some differences. The 13600K is on par with the 7600X but does improve upon the 12600K by 6%.

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REVIEW OVERVIEW

Performance
10
Efficiency (Perf per Watt)
5
Features
10
Value
9

SUMMARY

We put the Intel Core i5-13600K Raptor Lake CPU through its paces and benchmarked synthetic and gaming scenarios at various resolutions. The CPU maintained a high-performance level, rivaling the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X in multi-threaded workloads, and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in gaming. It is loaded with modern features and cores for multithreading. However, it came at a high cost of power usage and temperature where it lost points for efficiency. Its overall value is detracted by way of this tremendous power utilization in order to maintain its performance leadership. Its overall value is good from a performance and price perspective, but its efficiency is the cost.

Discussion (13 replies)

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Grimlakin
Grimlakin 👍 1

These CPU's are amazing... but the high core counts... seem odd.

IF you need high core count systems are you really gonna 'save' the 50-100 bucks and not just get the higher end part? I mean there are efficiencies and such and desktop consumers who see a 50 buck price difference as just TOO much of a hurdle... but lets get real. Those are starting enthusiests... and will they be doing something that need or warrants that many threads? Couldn't they have gotten the performance for gaming without the complexity of more threads and reduced cost even more? Even if only cost internally for the product stack?

Brian_B

"Grimlakin, post: 61605, member: 215" wrote:

Couldn't they have gotten the performance for gaming without the complexity of more threads and reduced cost even more? Even if only cost internally for the product stack?


I think, as you move down the stack - it's all about salvage bins and strategically pricing/marketing them. Not that these were specifically created for this mid-market segment.

Space_Ranger
Space_Ranger 👍 2

I really like Intel's CPU. I want to REALLY like them. That power draw though. I can't. I can't do it.

Brian_B
Brian_B 👍 2

It's kind of funny that all those Efficiency cores and the power is still what it is.

Space_Ranger
Space_Ranger 👍 5

They are "Efficient" at consuming power.. :)

LazyGamer
LazyGamer 👍 2

"Grimlakin, post: 61605, member: 215" wrote:

Couldn't they have gotten the performance for gaming without the complexity of more threads and reduced cost even more?


E-cores are cheap. Really cheap, as they're essentially re-worked, stripped-down Skylake cores. They lack HT which was one of the main sources of security issues for Skylake.

And for Raptor Lake, over Alder Lake before, the E-cores run a bit faster, have lower latency, and do not inhibit ring clock speed - which results in higher overall memory bandwidth and lower memory access latency for every core.

So those eight E-cores on the 13600K and 13700K are extremely helpful. They still have full-fat FPUs and so on, so you could think of them as being something like having a whole 9700K (at 10nm / Intel 7) bolted on to the side of the six or eight P-cores in these CPUs. They can handle any work assigned to them.

"Grimlakin, post: 61605, member: 215" wrote:

IF you need high core count systems are you really gonna 'save' the 50-100 bucks and not just get the higher end part?


For the 13600K, you probably should stretch to the 13700K for the additional two P-cores. But just for gaming? Hard to make that argument depending on what other budget considerations are at hand.

"Grimlakin, post: 61605, member: 215" wrote:

Couldn't they have gotten the performance for gaming without the complexity of more threads and reduced cost even more? Even if only cost internally for the product stack?


I guess this depends on the comparison. There's a lot of elegance to be found in AMD's more traditional approach, but for those that do more with their systems than just gaming - and by more I mean they have all the stuff running that a desktop user and a gamer would have in the background - Intel's approach makes sense. The P-cores can handle the demanding gaming threads, the E-cores can handle everything else - effortlessly.

Hard to measure and hard to reproduce I know, as no reviewer would purposefully use such a methodology on a product launch review, let alone variability with all the additional variables and likely run-to-run variance casting doubt on the results. This is just how I look at it.

"Brian_B, post: 61609, member: 96" wrote:

I think, as you move down the stack - it's all about salvage bins and strategically pricing/marketing them. Not that these were specifically created for this mid-market segment.


As long as Intel has been doing these bins, I expect they very much planned things this way. Intel needed to both head off AMD's gains with Zen 4 as well as provide an uplift in comparison to Alder Lake, thus providing a motive for folks with anything older to jump in this round.

Strong gaming performance, strong MT performance, and available inexpensive boards and support for less expensive DDR4 with Raptor Lake all put Intel pretty substantially in the value leader slot.

"Space_Ranger, post: 61619, member: 52" wrote:

They are "Efficient" at consuming power.. :)


Zen 4 is leading in perf/watt at the very highest loads, but average loads are surprisingly 'normal' for both of them. For gaming and general desktop use, outside of say 3D rendering, both ecosystems are more or less equivalent.

Peter_Brosdahl
Peter_Brosdahl 👍 4

Such a mixed bag with these new processors for gamers but this one is a bit more palatable than the 13900K. Still going to wait and see what AMD's next 3D offering is but it all adds up to more knowledge for the most informed purchase.

Brian_B
Brian_B 👍 3

"Peter_Brosdahl, post: 61656, member: 87" wrote:

Such a mixed bag with these new processors for gamers but this one is a bit more palatable than the 13900K. Still going to wait and see what AMD's next 3D offering is but it all adds up to more knowledge for the most informed purchase.


Yeah, if I were building a system from scratch right now, I could see going any direction really and coming out with a really solid system. Would probably come down to whatever I could catch on sale that particular day.

S

"LazyGamer, post: 61626, member: 1367" wrote:

Strong gaming performance, strong MT performance, and available inexpensive boards and support for less expensive DDR4 with Raptor Lake all put Intel pretty substantially in the value leader slot.

Hell no, just factor the cost of an AIO cooler and suddenly the value crashes to the ground.

Zen 3 is a much better value if only not as fast.

LazyGamer
LazyGamer 👍 1

"Stoly, post: 61707, member: 1474" wrote:

Hell no, just factor the cost of an AIO cooler and suddenly the value crashes to the ground.



Zen 3 is a much better value if only not as fast.


I'd have figured that in anyway :unsure:

Not a 'fan' of using HSFs except where necessary or in truly low-powered scenarios.

Niner51
Niner51 👍 4

"Peter_Brosdahl, post: 61656, member: 87" wrote:

Such a mixed bag with these new processors for gamers but this one is a bit more palatable than the 13900K.


Bringing up this old thread due to my "downgrading" from a 13900K to a 13600KF. After moving into my new home and being in a designated main level bedroom/man cave over my basement man cave in my previous home where temperatures were not as noticeable I just wanted to have something that ran cooler which this does compared to my previous 13900K. The 13600KF is just as good as the 13900K at 4K with little to no drop off in FPS as this review suggests.

Space_Ranger
Space_Ranger 👍 2

"Niner51, post: 73770, member: 106" wrote:

Bringing up this old thread due to my "downgrading" from a 13900K to a 13600KF. After moving into my new home and being in a designated main level bedroom/man cave over my basement man cave in my previous home where temperatures were not as noticeable I just wanted to have something that ran cooler which this does compared to my previous 13900K. The 13600KF is just as good as the 13900K at 4K with little to no drop off in FPS as this review suggests.


That's nice to see! Thanks for sharing!

LazyGamer
LazyGamer 👍 1

"LazyGamer, post: 61709, member: 1367" wrote:

Not a 'fan' of using HSFs except where necessary or in truly low-powered scenarios.


So, I take this back. The latest round or two of air coolers have pushed more than adequate cooling down to US$50 to US$70. Obviously be mindful of voltages under load!

Brent Justicehttps://www.thefpsreview.com
Former managing editor of GPUs at HardOCP for 18 years, Brent Justice has been reviewing computer components since the late 90s, educated in the art and method of the computer hardware review, he brings experience, knowledge, and hands-on testing with a gamer-oriented and hardware enthusiast perspective. You can follow him on Twitter - @Brent_Justice You can sub to his YouTube channel - Justice Gaming https://www.youtube.com/c/JusticeGamingChannel You can check out his computer builds on KIT - @BrentJustice https://kit.co/BrentJustice

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