i5 13600k or i7 13700 ??

[malccy]

Hi

am planning a 13th gen build in next couple of months and initially felt the i5 13600k to be my best choice but am now wondering if the closely priced i7 13700 might be the better cpu to buy. I don't have any plans to overclock the cpu which will be used primarily for gaming. Have not really done a full build for a couple of years so am inclined to go for a B760 motherboard in hope the bios might be a bit easier for me to understand and cope with.

Can I ask for people experiences and possible recommendations please?

Many thanks

 

[Tetras]

Personally, I'd go with the 13700, just because I'm more comfortable with having 8 P-cores in the longer-term, but I haven't seen any reviews yet. I doubt you'll regret buying either CPU.

 

[dave28]

what cooler do you have, the 13700K is quite hot. I have seen 2 people complain and they both had AIO watercoolers.
One of them was getting 94c and the other over 100c. But that was in cinebench 23, gaming would run much cooler.
I run my one with a custom watercooling setup so temps are fine for me.

 

[malccy]

Thank you Tetras. I think the non-K i7 13700 dave28 is quite a few watts lower than the K version. I'm presently using a Corsair 240 aio which I have now received the 1700 compatible fittings from Corsair to allow me to use it on the new build.

I couldn't find any real testing or comparisons for the i7 13700 so was hoping someone here might have some insight. As say, was kind of decided on the i5 13600k but then saw the pricing for the i7 13700.

 

[Tetras]

I couldn't find any real testing or comparisons for the i7 13700 so was hoping someone here might have some insight. As say, was kind of decided on the i5 13600k but then saw the pricing for the i7 13700.

Unfortunately the non-K CPUs don't get much attention, especially at the high-end. Hardware unboxed reviewed the 12700 and TPU reviewed the 10700, I know they're different CPUs (and even architecture in the latter case), but I think many of their points are still valid versus the K i5. The 13th gen i5 is a stronger CPU relative to the 12600K and 10600K (versus their respective i7), in my opinion, so the productivity strength of the i7 is muted somewhat for this generation.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Top CPUs for gaming and applications.


13600k is a beast.

CPU-Tests 2025: Benchmark-Bestenliste mit Ryzen 9800X3D

Diese Seite beschäftigt sich mit der Bestenliste und gibt Aufschluss darüber, warum wir eine für viele praxisferne Auflösung für die Tests verwenden.

www.pcgameshardware.de

 

[malccy]

Thanks Ravenxxx2 for chart but cannot see the i7 13700 listed.

 

[mattyfez]

It's hard to look past the 13600k... the new i5's are absolute stonkers... it's almost imposible to justify an i7 or i9 unless your're doing serious production work IMO.

 

[malccy]

Thanks to all who have posted; i've actually now purchased an i5 13600k that was in Overclockers 'B grade' clearance section yesterday evening. Since purchasing though a slight worry has entered my mind as to why it is 'B' grade and possible problems it may have.

Does anyone know if these cpu's are just returned as to people changing their minds or should I be looking out for something?

 

[mattyfez]

Thanks to all who have posted; i've actually now purchased an i5 13600k that was in Overclockers 'B grade' clearance section yesterday evening. Since purchasing though a slight worry has entered my mind as to why it is 'B' grade and possible problems it may have.

Does anyone know if these cpu's are just returned as to people changing their minds or should I be looking out for something?

I wouldn't worry too much, CPUs either work or they don't.. may have been in a test build or maybe a prebuilt whole PC return so they striped it for parts etc.

 

[malccy]

Cheers for re-assurance mattyfez. Began thinking the deal was 'too good to be true' type thing.

Next thing is to decide what motherboard - am thinking either a msi b760 or an msi z790. Looking for something easy to setup in bios.

 

[mattyfez]

Cheers for re-assurance mattyfez. Began thinking the deal was 'too good to be true' type thing.

Next thing is to decide what motherboard - am thinking either a msi b760 or an msi z790. Looking for something easy to setup in bios.

Depends if you want to OC or not, I went with an asus z970-A wifi... but all you'll really need to do is enable XMP to let your ram run at full speed unless you want to do more tinkering.

 

[mattyfez]

I find motherboards tend to specify themselves once you know what you want, for example I wanted a z790 chipset with wifi and bluetooth, as I like to use my xbox pad via bluetooth for gaming and it saves having to buy a bluetooth dongle or pci card. It also has a good audio chip on it...

 

[mattyfez]

But do check if its a ddr4 or ddr5 board! depending on what ram you have!!!!!

 

[malccy]

I'd like it it be as say an easy board to manage in bios, lan not to be Intel, 3 x m.2 4.0 and get the most out of the 13600k without overclocking. Have 16gb of 3600 ddr4 to put in it as well.

Am down to MSI Intel MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 or Gigabyte B760 GAMING X DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX. The Gigabyte is the cheaper one at about £170 with the msi being around £230.

 

[Tetras]

Am down to MSI Intel MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 or Gigabyte B760 GAMING X DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX. The Gigabyte is the cheaper one at about £170 with the msi being around £230.

My impression from looking at the specs of B760 boards is that you're probably better off with something like the MSI Z690-A (i.e. Z690 with flashback) in the £180 - £220 range and then £230+ an entry level Z790 board like the Gigabyte Z790 D (or UD AX). I'm no expert (I rely on buildzoid's roundups), but on the face of it, the Gigabyte B760 Gaming X has literally half the VRM of the Gigabyte Z790 D. I don't think it'll matter too much for a 13600K either way, but 8+1+1 does look a bit puny compared to the competition. The B760 Tomahawk compares more favourably to the entry-level Z690 and Z790 boards, but then it is priced like one too.

 

[malccy]

Thanks Testras. I have heard generally better things regarding MSI boards than I have about Gigabyte. I think the B760 boards offer me an easier build and less to worry about regarding the bios settings. The price though of the Tomahawk seems a bit high, but think that is the better choice.