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12700k to 13900k

Andy Pandy

Andy Pandy

Andy Pandy

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Joined
9 May 2006
Posts
1,313
Location
Nottingham
Hi all I’ve done a little research on this and the majority of people say it’s not worth it but I thought I’d ask here and my reasoning behind the upgrade. It’s my birthday next month so I’m thinking money towards a cpu.

With my z690 motherboard I can just drop in the best cpu I can get and it be an ‘upgrade’ even if it’s a small one. The new 7800x3d cpu sounds great but that would mean new motherboard and ram too and I’m not wanting to spend that much.

Later in the year I’m going to upgrade to a 4090 or whatever is better at the time and get a new power supply for it too. I play at 1440p and have a 165hz monitor.

Some of the games I play are quite cpu intensive such as Squad, flight simulator and things in vr so if it’s an upgrade to those games I’d be happy.

So is this a good idea? Drop in the best cpu I can for my motherboard. 12700k to 13900k to improve performance in some cpu intensive games and vr or just stick with what I’ve got and upgrade to 14th gen/amd equivalent.

Thanks :)
 
Andy Pandy said:
All I use the computer for is gaming. I forgot to mention I have a Corsair h150i elite cpu cooler so I’m hoping this is good enough to cool a 13900k.
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`With an undervolt on the 13900k you should be ok on an aio , unleashed power limits ( ie >330w ) you may struggle :cry: Performance wise looking at a few quick benchmark results seems to be a 10-15% uplift so up to you if you think its worth it or not. As for 14th Gen looks like that wont be out till next year and in fact this year should be getting some sort of raptor lake refresh (LGA1700) so think along the lines of 13950K / KS etc .
 
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Andy Pandy said:
So is this a good idea? Drop in the best cpu I can for my motherboard. 12700k to 13900k to improve performance in some cpu intensive games and vr or just stick with what I’ve got and upgrade to 14th gen/amd equivalent.
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TPU have some numbers for that in their 7800X3D article. For me, the answer (for gaming) is no, it is not worth it and you're unlikely to notice the difference.
 
I went from 12900k to 13900k. The difference in 4k with a 4090 is exactly 0%. When I drop to 720p - completely cpu bound settings, there is a big difference -- up to 20-25% depending on the game but usually it's around 15-20%. Both at stock, 7000c30 ram for the 12900k - 7600c34 for the 13900k.

The 13900k consumes a truckload for gaming though, that bothered me so I went back to the much more efficient 12900k. For every other workload, the 13900k tuned properly is incredibly efficient - but for gaming - it's a real power hog. It consumes around 60 to 80% more wattage than my 12900k, both tuned for maximum efficiency
 
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Andy Pandy said:
All I use the computer for is gaming. I forgot to mention I have a Corsair h150i elite cpu cooler so I’m hoping this is good enough to cool a 13900k.
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You didn't state what resolution you game at but I'll assume it's 1440p and above and in that case I very much doubt it is worth it. Better to wait to see what improvements 14th gen brings if any.
 
Bencher said:
I went from 12900k to 13900k. The difference in 4k with a 4090 is exactly 0%. When I drop to 720p - completely cpu bound settings, there is a big difference -- up to 20-25% depending on the game but usually it's around 15-20%. Both at stock, 7000c30 ram for the 12900k - 7600c34 for the 13900k.

The 13900k consumes a truckload for gaming though, that bothered me so I went back to the much more efficient 12900k. For every other workload, the 13900k tuned properly is incredibly efficient - but for gaming - it's a real power hog. It consumes around 60 to 80% more wattage than my 12900k, both tuned for maximum efficiency
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A 13900k with a limited voltage is a lot more efficient while gaming than a 12900k
Stock for stock it's more power hungry, but it can be tuned to have almost zero impact on gaming performance whilst using far less power
 
no_1_dave said:
A 13900k with a limited voltage is a lot more efficient while gaming than a 12900k
Stock for stock it's more power hungry, but it can be tuned to have almost zero impact on gaming performance whilst using far less power
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Both can be tuned, but unless you actually downclock the 13900k - it is not touching the 12900k in efficiency. The difference is pretty big actually - 60 to 80% in power draw.
 
Bencher said:
Both can be tuned, but unless you actually downclock the 13900k - it is not touching the 12900k in efficiency. The difference is pretty big actually - 60 to 80% in power draw.
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Yes, but downclocked in games it still performs better than the 12900k whilst using less power
It would just be a hassle to constantly downclock when you want to game if you use your PC for other things.
 
no_1_dave said:
Yes, but downclocked in games it still performs better than the 12900k whilst using less power
It would just be a hassle to constantly downclock when you want to game if you use your PC for other things.
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Εxactly, there is no proper way to tune the 13900k to make it work as you want to in all scenarios. There is no such issue with the 12900k, I just undervolt it and run it unlimited power, peaks at 170w in cinebench and max power draw in games is 110w in 720p the last of us (heaviest game on the planet right now).
 
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Bencher said:
Εxactly, there is no proper way to tune the 13900k to make it work as you want to in all scenarios. There is no such issue with the 12900k, I just undervolt it and run it unlimited power, peaks at 170w in cinebench and max power draw in games is 110w in 720p the last of us (heaviest game on the planet right now).
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What was your typical CPU power usage when playing Spiderman on both your 13900K and 12900K?
 
MartinPrince said:
What was your typical CPU power usage when playing Spiderman on both your 13900K and 12900K?
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I don't exactly remember spiderman, but cyberpunk which was heavier at completely cpu bound settings the 12900k is around 90 to 100w (1080p resolution) while the 13900k was casually hitting up to 160w at times.. Both CPUs are run at stock frequencies and fully undervolted as much as possible while retaining 30 minutes ycruncher stability.

This is a video of my 12900k running cyberpunk

www.youtube.com

Apartments

www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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