Introduction
Intel’s next generation 13th Gen Intel Core desktop processors are launching, and we have a full review of the Intel Core i9-13900K CPU. What has been dubbed as “Raptor Lake” Intel’s 13th Gen Core processors are the next evolution of Intel’s unique hybrid architecture consisting of performance cores and efficiency cores. The 13th Gen processors from Intel build upon the 12th Gen Core Processors (Alder Lake) and extend the architecture to include more efficient cores, more cache, and higher clock speeds with some other tweaks.
Intel has announced the lineup of 13th Gen CPUs, with complete specs, and frequencies as well as pricing. Today is the official launch of product availability, and where we can show you benchmarks and performance in games. In this review, we will look at several synthetic benchmarks, including multi-core and single-core performance, and no less than 8 games worth of performance at 4K, 1440p and 1080p. Our CPU comparisons today are very comprehensive, culminating in 10 total CPUs, 4 from the Ryzen 7000 series, 1 from the Ryzen 5000 series, and 3 from the Intel 12th Generation series.
13th Gen Intel Core Processors
Before we talk about what is new, let’s talk about what is not new, because that is just as important. The process technology is the same, with “Intel 7” fab process being used, which essentially is a 10nm ESF process. Intel’s 13th Gen CPUs will still use the same socket the 12th Gen used, which is Intel Socket 1700. This means that not only can you utilize the new Z790-based motherboards, but you will also be able to use the Z690 motherboards, and equivalent, from the Alder Lake 12th Generation. In addition, the 13th Gen Raptor Lake also supports both DDR4 configurations and DDR5, just like the 12th Gen Alder Lake. This gives you some flexibility in configuration and support. The 13th Gen CPUs fully support PCI-Express 5.0.
What also is not new is Intel’s performance hybrid architecture, utilizing performance-cores (Raptor Cove P-Core) that support an extra thread each, and then efficient-cores (Gracemont E-Core). What is new with 13th Gen is the inclusion of more efficient-cores, pretty much doubled at each SKU. This increases the overall thread count of each CPU beyond the 12th Gen CPUs.
For example, the Intel Core i9-13900K we are reviewing today has 8 performance-cores, and 16 efficient-cores, for a total of 32 threads. This is contrasted to the previous 12th Generation Core i9-12900K which had 8 performance-cores and 8 efficient-cores, for a total of 24 threads. The Intel Core i9 13900K has 8 more efficient-cores, and thus 8 more threads. The Intel Core i7-13700K has 4 more efficient-cores added, compared to the Intel Core i7-12700K taking the 13700K up to 24 threads versus 20 on the 12700K. The Intel Core i5-13600K adds 4 more efficient-cores versus the 12600K taking it to 20 threads versus 16 threads on the 12600K.
To direct all these threads, Intel has updated its Thread Director which works more intelligently with 13th Gen Core processors. PCWorld has a great video detailing the changes and optimizations made with Intel Thread Director 2 on 13th Gen Core processors. Another improvement with 13th Gen Raptor Lake is an increase in cache sizes to both L2 and L3 cache. Intel Core i9-13900K goes to 32MB of L2 cache, versus 14MB on Intel Core i9-12900K. L3 cache grows to 36MB on 13900K versus 30MB on 12900K. Intel calls this cache its Intel Smart Cache. The Core i7-13700K has 24MB of L2 cache and 30MB of Intel Smart Cache. The Core i5-13600K has 20MB of L2 cache and 24MB of Intel Smart Cache.
Another improvement with 13th Gen Core processors is a boost in performance-core and efficient-core clock speeds. The Intel Core i9-13900K performance-cores have a max turbo frequency of up to 5.8GHz and an Intel turbo boost max technology 3.0 frequency of up to 5.7GHz and a performance-core max turbo frequency of up to 5.4GHz. The efficient-cores now boost up to 4.3GHz.
By comparison, the Intel Core i9-12900K could boost up to 5.2GHz for max turbo frequency and turbo boost max technology 3.0 frequency and 5.1GHz max turbo frequency for the 12900K. The efficient-cores could boost up to 3.9GHz. Therefore, both the performance-cores and efficient-cores got a decent bump in frequency. The Core i7-13700K can boost up to 5.4GHz on the performance-cores and 4.2GHz on the efficient-cores. The Intel Core i5-13600K can boost up to 5.1GHz on the performance-cores and 3.9GHz on the efficient-cores.
None of this comes without demand on power, of course. The Intel Core i9-13900K has a rated maximum turbo power of 253W, the Core i7-13700K has a maximum turbo power of 253W and the Core i5-13600K has a maximum turbo power of 181W. While these are the rated TDP, the actual socket TDP will be higher at full load, and can also depend on the motherboard configuration and if it is running at Intel specs, or its own. All 13th Gen Core CPUs support DDR5 5600 and DDR4 3200 as the official spec. All 13th Gen Core CPUs also have integrated Intel UHD 770 graphics, this is the same as 12th Gen Core CPUs. However, the max dynamic frequency has been increased by 100MHz.
Intel Core i9-13900K
The Intel Core i9-13900K has an RCP USD of $589. It is a 24 combined core CPU made up of 8 performance-cores and 16 efficient-cores for a total of 32 threads 24(8+16). It has 36MB of Intel Smart Cache (L3) and 32MB of Total L2 Cache. It has a P-core Max Turbo Frequency of up to 5.8GHz, and an E-core Max Turbo Frequency of up to 4.3GHz. It has 20 total CPU PCIe lanes and supports DDR5 5600 and DDR4 3200. The Processor Base Power is 125W and the Max Turbo Power is 253W.
Our CPUs were in a nice box presentation. The CPU itself looks identical to that of the 12th Gen Core processors, Alder Lake. On the back, the pin pattern differs from the 12th Gen CPUs slightly, and there are some slight capacitor differences, but otherwise, they look very much the same. Installation into our MSI MEG Z690 ACE motherboard was easy and flawless. We did need to flash the BIOS on this motherboard to the latest version to support the CPU, thankfully we were able to use the flash BIOS button feature to do so to get CPU support.
HWiNFO64 recognizes the CPU as Raptor Lake-S 8+16 with a Stepping of B0 and SSPEC SRMBH on the Socket V LGA1700 platform. The Turbo Max is at 5.8GHz.
Discussion (16 replies)
Join Discussion →Brent, very well done with the review! This thing is a power monger (both in terms of performance and consumption!).
I'm torn though and not liking the current "Trend" from AMD and Intel with their strategy on becoming the performance king. Throwing more power a the device shouldn't be the way to achieve this.
I'm inclined to make my next CPU decision based on Performance per watt. I can deal with slower performance if it means I'm not going to be spending an arm and a leg with the Electric Company.
Nice review enjoyed reading it. Would have loved to have seen some 5900x and 5950x cpu comparisons since you had the previous gen intel ones. But chart space is a thing. :) Gotta make it so eyeballs can read it!
Looks like I'm keeping the 12700k a while longer, this thing runs hot enough as it is, don't need a bigger heater.
If the AMD GPU's don't make for a good upgrade I might just upgrade my AMD machine with a 5800X3D and leave it at that.
That's the most cost effective upgrade you can do strictly for gaming. Obviously not a slow CPU in any desktop task of course. But that's if you have a need for it; the 12700K ain't slow by any means!
Alas, my poor Haswell-E...
I think both AMD and intel dropped the towel on power efficiency (and nvidia too for that matter). To think that all of them at some point touted power efficiency for their next gen products. At least nvidia delivered with Maxwell and Pascal.
Think of it another way - compare a modern V8 that's more powerful (more torque and horsepower) across its RPM range than a similarly displacing V8 from thirty years ago, and then note that said modern V8 is not only more efficient when putting power down, but has cylinder deactivation and is more efficient at idle. Or, can be made significantly more powerful than the older V8 peak to peak tuned, but again peak to peak, the newer V8 uses more fuel. Because it can, not because it needs to.
We're seeing massive leaps in efficiency, and we're also seeing companies be able to push their parts closer to the limit stock.
Hey, I'm right there with you with my Ivy Bridge E. I was thinking of saving up for one of these this summer but now after seeing the gaming performance I'm rethinking it.
I do need to upgrade but I think I'll wait for the Ryzen 7000 3D versions. The only thing I know for sure is I'd like something that can last around 7-10 years as this has and since I've already got a rig with a 5800X3D it doesn't make sense to build another with the same, especially seeing it within a couple of frames of this processor at 4K gaming. Those 3930/4930/5930 K processors are still amazing after all this time but definitely getting long in the tooth.
I think this is closer to the truth.
The flip side of that coin is that stock power goes up when companies hit walls on other means to generate performance increases.
If you can't engineer it in more performance as part of the architecture, or throw more cores at it, then you hope like hell you can just push more power through it and boost the clocks.
It will continue to go up until people stop buying them. For the mass market - you aren't going to see 280W 13900K's in the average desktop computer in a cubicle for a call center, or in a POS cash register, or a laptop. All the chips in that market will continue to get more efficient -- because the cost of cooling is an overhead item they can cut out as the technology does get more efficient - the performance boosts just aren't as pronounced when the technology to run it has been fast enough for more than a decade now.
That part the V8 analogy still carries through - you don't see big Hellcat-driven minivans mass produced at the car lot, you see smaller displacement and more fuel efficiency and more gears in the transmission, while staying around a hp/torque level that seems "good enough" for the size of the car. The speed limit on the highways haven't changed in a long time, after all (but Americans have gotten fatter - hence turbochargers becoming more common ---- that's a bad joke, but only because part of that is at least true).
Those big, power hungry chips really only have two markets: big workstations that do serious work (pro content creation, engineering CAD, simulations, etc) - and gamers/enthusiasts. And in those markets - they won't really care about power until they start tripping breakers. And even then, good odds on them just saying "Oh well, I'll call the electrician" and still not caring.
Great review. This just drives home the point, if you use your rig for gaming primarily, and that's done in 4K, jumping up to the 13th Gen isn't really worth it since you are more GPU bound.
IMO the current price/performance cpu for 4k would be a 5800X3D. Might go as low as a 5600X if in a budget.
If you're on Intel... 7th-gen maybe, or have an AMD board that cannot take a 5800X3D, then it's a good upgrade if you also have a higher-end GPU. Especially keeping in mind that GPUs drive higher average framerates, while CPUs drive minimum framerates.
Well I went against my thoughts and got a 13900K as my buddy wanted my 12900K and offered me a fair deal. I thought about just going with a 13700K or 13600K, but I wanted to stick with an i9. Honestly when gaming this chip only gets about 5 degrees Celsius hotter than the 12900K using a NH-U12A cooler which isn't bad at all to me. Goes to show you what a good air cooler and a high airflow case can do to even a hot running chip.
This... is entirely relative to the load. Granted, that only matters if you do something that would benefit from more cooling - gaming and general desktop usage aren't going to really tax these CPUs.
Agreed, but I was just comparing it to my 12900K and what temps I had with that chip doing the same games/work loads. I'll probably never push this chip to its limits, but I never really did that with the 12900K either, just on occasion. I'm just impressed with the NH-U12A on how it has been effectively cooling this chip so far. I had some doubts, but it shows that air cooling isn't dead.