CES could be the acronym for “CPUs Reach Shops” this year. As soon as AMD and Intel presented new CPUs at CES 2023, which only ended last Sunday, they are already available in stores. See also our big CES special. Intel made the start: 16 new Core i-13000 models have been on the market since last week, some of which are also suitable for gamers. These are all processors that do not have a freely selectable multiplier, i.e. cannot be overclocked and therefore do not bear the abbreviation K or KF. So far, in addition to the older 12000 models, only the Core i5-13600K, Core i7-13700K and Core i9-13900K were available for Socket 1700, each also with a KF version without IGP (internal graphics unit).
The situation is similar at AMD: Since last Tuesday there have been three new CPUs available without the X after the model number, the Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7700 and Ryzen 9 7900. As usual with Ryzen (except for the 5800X3D), let it be these CPUs all overclock. Both AMD and Intel want to supply their current mainstream sockets with modern, cheaper, latest-generation CPUs.
We have selected tests and reviews for the new processors, analyzed them and, based on this, try to classify the performance of the new CPUs and give you current tips on buying them. The special focus is on the price-performance ratio, and of course we also include the Core i-12000 models that have been available for some time, as well as the AM4 socket (Ryzen 5000) from AMD.
Overview: The new 13000 series CPUs from Intel
At Intel, we don’t want to list all 16 models as some are uninteresting to gamers. We also refrain from naming models twice that are available as versions with and without IGP with otherwise identical technical data. This is the case for the Core i5-13400, Core i7-13700 and Core i9-13900 as well as their overclockable siblings. Models without IGP are sometimes up to 40 euros cheaper than the normal versions – you can recognize them by the letter F or KF in the overclockable Intel CPUs after the model number.
The lack of an IGP is not a disadvantage for a gaming PC, since you use a graphics card for the graphics anyway. Only in the case of a problem with the PC there is a small catch: You cannot then remove your graphics card as a test and instead use the IGP to identify or rule out the graphics card as a possible cause of the error.
These are the new Intel 13000 CPUs eligible for gamers, as well as the previously released KF models for comparison, as well as four 12000 non-K CPUs. For a better overview, we have added a blank line between the Core i classes:
| model name | Cores (P+E) | threads | base clock | boost clock | L3 cache | TDP | Price from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i3-12100F | Alder Lake | 4 | 8th | 3.3GHz | 4.3GHz | 12MB | 58 watts | 100 euros |
| Core i3-13100F | Alder Lake | 4 | 8th | 3.4GHz | 4.5GHz | 12MB | 58 watts | 130 euros |
| Core i5-12400F | Alder Lake | 6 | 12 | 2.5GHz | 4.4GHz | 18MB | 65 watts | 165 euros |
| Core i5-13400F | Raptor or Alder Lake | 10 (6P + 4E) | 16 | 2.5GHz | 4.6GHz | 20MB | 65 watts | 225 euros |
| Core i5-13500 | Alder Lake | 14 (6P + 8E) | 20 | 2.5GHz | 4.8GHz | 24MB | 65 watts | 270 euros |
| Core i5-13600 | Alder Lake | 14 (6P + 8E) | 20 | 2.7GHz | 5.0GHz | 24MB | 65 watts | 295 euros |
| Core i5-13600KF | Raptor Lake | 14 (6P + 8E) | 20 | 3.5GHz | 5.1GHz | 24MB | 125 watts | 320 euros |
| Core i7-12700F | Alder Lake | 12 (8P + 4E) | 20 | 2.1GHz | 4.9GHz | 25MB | 65 watts | 325 euros |
| Core i7-13700F | Raptor Lake | 16 (8P + 8E) | 24 | 2.1GHz | 5.2GHz | 30MB | 65 watts | 410 euros |
| Core i7-13700KF | Raptor Lake | 16 (8P + 8E) | 24 | 3.4GHz | 5.4GHz | 30MB | 125 watts | 440 euros |
| Core i9-12900F | Alder Lake | 16 (8P + 8E) | 24 | 2.4GHz | 5.2GHz | 30MB | 125 watts | 500 euro |
| Core i9-13900F | Raptor Lake | 24 (8P + 16E) | 32 | 2.0GHz | 5.6GHz | 36MB | 65 watts | 600 euros |
| Core i9-13900KF | Raptor Lake | 24 (8P + 16E) | 32 | 3.0GHz | 5.8GHz | 36MB | 125 watts | 630 euros |
With many CPUs you have the separation into E and P cores. The latter are performance cores that can manage two threads. The E cores are efficiency cores and can only manage one thread. What’s interesting to know is that technically the new Core i3 and Core i5 novelties only belong to the older Alder Lake family.
Only the Core i5-13400(F) is also available with Raptor Lake, recognizable by the info “C0”, which shops will hopefully also indicate. A B0 denotes the Core i5-13400(F) with Alder Lake base. What is new is that all new Core i5 models are split into efficiency and performance cores. This was only intended for the K CPUs on the 12000 models. In addition, the new 13000 models all have more cores and threads than their comparable 12000 relatives.
