The Intel Core i5-13600K is precisely what I hoped it might be. I used to be speaking to my brother just lately concerning the PC I simply constructed, and after I talked about the gaming, the benchmarking, the content material creation, and the overall work I would be doing on it, he requested if the processor was an i7 or an i9. I shook my head.
I am slightly stunned that the i5 nonetheless is not thought-about viable by a variety of of us for extra demanding workloads, even when its worth popularity has been rising lately. With the thirteenth technology, and to a sure extent, the final technology of Intel’s chips, the i5 has turn out to be an absolute powerhouse. A lot so, that I am starting to query who an i7 and i9 are literally for.
PC elements are costly, and with the thirteenth Gen i5 beginning at round £289.99 / $300 just below a yr after launch, a higher-tier processor than this could positively be asking for lots. Particularly when you think about the generational overhaul a variety of trendy elements are demanding at current. DDR5 RAM, SSDs which might be quick as hell, to not point out a bespoke graphics card and a motherboard that is suitable with all of it. Collectively, that quantities to a small fortune, so why hassle spending any more cash on a higher-ranking CPU if the i5 will be all the pieces you want?
My hope going into this assessment was that it could possibly be the perfect CPU for gaming I would want. It did not disappoint.
Specs and options
Intel Core i5-13600K Key Specs
Launch date: October 2022
Core Depend: 14
Threads: 20
L3 Cache: 24MB
Base Clock: 3.5GHz
Increase Clock: 5.1GHz
Max Really useful RAM pace: 5,600MHz
Built-in graphics: Sure, Intel UHD Graphics 770
Motherboard Socket: LGA1700
Launch value: $329
GR+’s Really useful GPU Pairing: Intel Arc A770 / RTX 4060
There is not a lot to report concerning the aesthetics of the 13600K. It is normal fare within the seems division in comparison with Intel’s different chips and has the useful triangle on the underside left nook to inform you which method up it must be seated in your motherboard.
The socket all the thirteenth Gen Raptor Lake Intel CPUs work with is the LGA1700, which suggests it is the identical as twelfth Gen processors. The jury’s nonetheless out on whether or not 14th Gen CPUs, that are supposedly arriving in a number of months, may even use this socket. I, for one, hope they’ll.
One of many greatest boundaries to entry for lots of people I discuss to, whether or not they’re all in favour of shopping for among the finest gaming PCs or upgrading their very own rigs, is having a motherboard that is suitable with the most recent components. With three latest generations utilizing one socket, we would hopefully see some elevated worth throughout the board, and extra individuals buying and selling as much as the most recent and best. On one other observe, it will be attention-grabbing to see what extra will be tapped out of this chipset when the “Raptor Lake Refresh” wave arrives.
The 13600K has 14 cores – 6 efficiency, and eight effectivity (much more than individuals would sometimes anticipate of i5 processors), and 20 threads. For these which may be unaware of what these items truly imply, image this processor as a manufacturing facility with 14 staff manning some conveyor belts going out and in. This specific manufacturing facility has 20 conveyor belts, which the manufacturing facility staff can use to unfold out their workload so nothing will get backed up and the entire operation runs like clockwork.
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The thirteenth Gen i5 has that aforementioned Raptor Lake structure and can work with DDR5 and Gen 5 SSDs, as long as you’ve gotten a motherboard that is suitable. One factor you might be lacking out on in comparison with an i7 or i9, is that you do not have Raptor Lake’s Turbo Max 3.0, a intelligent function that identifies your specific processor’s most effective cores and prioritizes them for quicker pace. To be trustworthy, although, this is not precisely one thing I observed after having hands-on time with at the least considered one of every CPU from this technology.
By way of uncooked specs, the 13600K is maybe the closest on paper to the twelfth Gen Intel Core i7-12700K, which I occur to have a variety of hands-on time with because it was our testing rig’s processor of selection till very just lately. In comparison with that processor, the 13600K has a barely quicker enhance clock, and extra cores, however is in any other case just about equivalent. By way of really feel throughout common PC utilization, this processor truly feels extra environment friendly and tends to run cooler, maybe as a result of it is barely much less power-hungry.
Perhaps most significantly, the 13600K is cheaper than a twelfth Gen i7, regardless of being newer. The i5-13600K means you get the unlocked multiplier for overclocking from the “Okay”. In the event you go for the calmly cheaper 13600KF mannequin, you get the identical multiplier, however no built-in graphics, so be sure you have among the finest graphics playing cards if that is the one you go for.
Efficiency
I’ve put this CPU to the check in my very own private construct for the previous three to 4 weeks, and it hasn’t as soon as let me down. In that point, I’ve used it for working from residence, which regularly means having a minimal of 15 tabs open at anybody time, in addition to a VPN, and some different purposes operating all of the whereas. In addition to that, I’ve finished some benchmarking and gaming too, and regardless of all stories that thirteenth gen processors run scorching, I’ve had mine in a small-form-factor construct in a Corsair 2000D Airflow RGB chassis, and its temperatures have been super-manageable.
In my spare time, I do a variety of content material creation for YouTube, in addition to some dwell streaming. Coming from an older AMD Ryzen 5 3400G CPU in my earlier construct, dwell streaming is completely the place I really feel the largest distinction with the 13600K. The place streams might have struggled earlier than, and I needed to be very cutthroat concerning the variety of applications I had open whereas dwell, the thirteenth Gen i5 feels prefer it is not even sweating. Taking part in video games on the identical PC as I used to be streaming positively did not appear to be a sustainable follow, nevertheless it’s now greater than attainable. I am but to check the i5’s prowess in the case of video enhancing, however given the way it trounced taking part in city-building video games whereas I used to be streaming, I’ve no doubts it’s going to smash any video enhancing calls for I’ve for it. Significantly as a result of it is paired in my construct with Sabrent’s Rocket DDR5 RAM, which is up there with the easiest RAM for gaming available on the market.
How we examined: different PC components used
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i-17xx Low-Profile Cooler
CPU thermal paste utilized: Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
Chassis: Corsair 2000D Airflow RGB (ITX)
Variety of followers: 3 intakes, 2 extractors
GPU: Acer Predator Bifrost Intel Arc A770 OC
RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z790-i
Then, in fact, there’s gaming, and that is the place I feel the thirteenth Gen i5 will win over a variety of hearts. For testing processors like this one, we’ll be taking sometimes CPU-intensive titles and seeing how they get on. Complete Warfare: Warhammer 3, Cities Skylines, in addition to different Metropolis Constructing/RTS video games, are a terrific check, since they require a CPU to maintain monitor of a variety of shifting components within the recreation at anybody time, be it tons of of little residents, or full-blown Warhammer armies tearing each other to shreds with magic and physics all operating rampant.
I ran Complete Warfare’s three included benchmarks and loaded up essentially the most populated group situations in Cities Skylines I may discover. I then tracked body charges, temperatures, whole CPU energy, and Core voltages, in addition to quoted percentages of CPU utilization. You possibly can see the outcomes under.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Marketing campaign Benchmark | Battle Benchmark | Mirrors of Insanity Benchmark |
| Peak Temp | 75°C | 75°C | 78°C |
| Cowl Voltage | 1.279V | 1.288V | 1.288V |
| Energy | 64W | 62.5W | 80W |
| Common FPS | 58.8 | 62.8 | 38.1 |
| Peak share used | 12% | 6% | 10% |
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Belmont Metropolis Transport State of affairs | Paradise Coast Visitors State of affairs | Presidente Los Santos |
| Peak Temp | 71°C | 76°C | 78°C |
| Common FPS | 111 | 99 | 50 |
| Peak share used | 5% | 4% | 6% |
I additionally turned this CPU at considered one of my go-to testing video games, HUNT: Showdown, to see the way it in comparison with my playtesting with the twelfth Gen i7. I managed to play at 4K with mid settings enabled and hit 60-80FPS greater than comfortably, and the CPU solely sat between 65°C and 75°C. Granted, this was whereas utilizing an Acer Predator Bifrost Intel Arc A770 OC with 16GB of VRAM, besides, I have never seen these body charges with the 12700K outdoors of testing the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, RX 7900 XT, and RTX 4070 Ti.
Intel Core i5-13600K benchmarking checks
Cinebench Multicore: 20,850 pts | 89°C | 115W
Cinebench Single Core: 1930 pts | 66°C | 49.5W
Blender Monster: 142.887spm | 88°C
Blender Junkshop: 87.849spm | 88°C
Blender Classroom: 65.387spm | 88°C
(pts = “factors”, spm = “samples per minute”)
Lastly, I bought oddly glued to Timberborn when testing the thirteenth Gen i5, one other Metropolis Builder that is much less demanding than Complete Warfare and Cities. I requested the CPU to simulate my small group of beavers as their district grew round them and was very pleasantly stunned on the outcomes. Utilizing a quoted 5% of the CPU, I used to be hitting 120FPS on and off stream at greater resolutions, with the temperature sitting comfortably within the 65°C vary.
Business-standard benchmarking checks have been the same story, with Cinebench and Blender pulling the most well liked temperatures out of the 13600K I would seen, all of the whereas attaining some actually first rate outcomes.
One factor I do need to contact on is that in the case of wattage, voltages, and temperatures, these numbers may appear excessive for a mid-ranger. That stated, the 13600K manages to get comparable efficiency to last-gen’s i7 and is not as power-hungry.
For essentially the most half, temperatures listed below are very manageable – I am not utilizing a radiator, AIO, or water cooler. Airflow alone retains the ambient temperatures of the 13600K to a suitable 40-50°C. By way of ambient energy, the CPU pulls by means of a core voltage of 0.728v, and an general wattage of 10.6W. This stuff aren’t practically as excessive as an i7 or i9 – the latter actually reached boiling level after I examined it within the Acer Predator Orion 7000 (2023), in order that’s price taking into consideration.
Total, I am so glad with the thirteenth Gen Intel Core i5-13600K. It doesn’t matter what I require of it, it is at all times up for the duty. Given the worth factors of Raptor Lake’s CPU vary, the sturdy efficiency of this CPU makes me query who on earth truly wants an i7 or i9.
Do you have to purchase the Intel Core i5-13600K?
For almost all of individuals, the thirteenth Gen Intel i5-13600K is all you may want. An i5 could also be a “mid-range” processor, however at the moment, I feel we have to re-assess what that truly means. The actual fact this factor is, on paper, a twelfth Gen i7, and feels to me from intensive use of each like the higher CPU general says lots. To not point out, it is cheaper.
Do not get me fallacious, the thirteenth Gen i7 and i9 will little doubt offer you higher efficiency when pairing with the highest-end GPUs just like the RTX 4090, and when making an attempt to get essentially the most out of the perfect gaming displays. However for almost all of individuals that are not operating these costly bits of package, I would suggest significantly interested by what you may want from a CPU earlier than writing off an i5. PC elements are costly, and there actually isn’t any level in shopping for a costlier mind in your laptop when the i5 is highly effective sufficient to offer you what you need.
I doubt that many individuals will go fairly as laborious on their CPUs as I do. {Hardware} testing, content material creation, and 4K gaming will put any chipset to the check. In the event you do a type of issues, not to mention all three, the i5-13600K will not allow you to down. Exterior of wanting on the AMD aspect, this is among the greatest CPUs for gaming you may discover.
How we examined the Intel Core i5-13600K
I put the thirteenth Gen Intel Core i5-13600K to the check in my very own PC for nearly a month main as much as this assessment. Throughout that point I used it for work, content material creation, dwell streaming, and gaming on nearly a every day foundation. I paired it with a Noctua NH-L9i-17xx Low-Profile Cooler, Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste, and supported it with 3 intakes chassis followers, and a pair of extractors. The chassis used for this assessment was the Corsair 2000D Airflow RGB, the GPU was an Acer Predator Bifrost Intel Arc A770 OC, and the RAM was 32B of Sabrent Rocket DDR5. The motherboard pulling all these elements collectively is an ASUS ROG Strix Z790-i.
For industry-standard benchmarking checks, I used rendering checks from free and open-source Blender, in addition to Cinebench. By way of gaming, I examined the way it dealt with video games like Cities Skylines, and Complete Warfare Warhammer 3 that are identified for being CPU-intensive. In the identical vein, I performed a number of Timberborn, in addition to HUNT: Showdown. The place attainable, I in contrast my expertise with this CPU’s efficiency to my time with the twelfth Gen Intel Core i7-12700K, my previous AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, and the thirteenth Gen Intel Core i9 that was contained in the Acer Predator Orion 7000 I reviewed just lately.
To trace numbers for all these items, I predominantly used Armoury Crate since I am engaged on an Asus motherboard, however in contrast figures to ones present in iCUE and Predator Bifrost’s software program.
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