For years, Intel has been the leading brand when it comes to gaming and the consumer market in general. Its focus on the gaming industry birthed its industry-leading hybrid core architecture with the launch of its 12th Generation Core series processors also known as Alderlake. Intel continues its path with the release of the 13th Generation Core series codenamed Raptor Lake, thanks to the improved Intel 7 Process. The improvements made on the P-cores, E-cores, Intel Thread Director, and a new Z790 allow the flagship Intel Core i9 13900K to take the top spot as the best gaming processor in the market today. Let’s see what makes the Intel Core i9 13900K, a must-have for a premium gaming experience.
Industry Leading Architecture
It’s no secret that Multicore processors are the way to go especially considering the growing needs of consumers where the line between gaming and productivity blurs as we are graced with much more powerful hardware to run demanding applications. However, brute-forcing a CPU’s performance by adding as many cores as possible isn’t sustainable when it comes to power efficiency, single-threaded performance, and of course, thermals. Intel’s Performance Hybrid Architecture brings the best of both worlds without the drawbacks. The Performance Cores(P-cores) handle the demanding or foreground tasks like gaming and rendering while the Efficient Cores(E-cores) take on less–power-hungry workloads or background tasks such as virus scans, windows updates, or discord. The improved Intel thread director on 13th Gen Core CPUs maximizes the CPU’s performance by intelligently distributing workloads to the optimal cores. Apart from the numerous improvements which we’ll discuss later thanks to the Intel 7 Process, the new 13th Gen Core processors leverage machine learning and software optimizations for Windows 11 22H2 to further maximize performance.
Backwards Compatibility and Future Proofing
The new Intel 13th Generation Core desktop processors are built on Intel’s improved Intel 7 Process and use the same LGA 1700 socket as its predecessor. Meaning that the new 13th Gen CPUs are compatible with 600 series chipset motherboards from the entry-level to the flagship Z690 mobos, some of which don’t require a BIOS update. Moreover, like the previous generation CPUs, the 13th Gen Core series supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Having this type of compatibility makes the CPUs flexible to the user’s budget by going for a cheaper combo like a Z690+DDR4 board or being future-proof with DDR5. The flexibility of the LGA 1700 platform makes transitioning a lot easier and convenient, especially for users coming from 12th Gen or those looking to preserve their DDR4 kits and wait for DDR5 prices to subside. Regardless of which path you choose, you’re guaranteed a smooth gaming experience with the latest 13th Gen CPUs.
Leading Gaming Performance
Days before the Intel Core i9 13900K and the rest of the 13th Gen CPUs were sold, reviews were already out(including ours) and shared one common fact among reviewers that the Intel Core i9 13900K tops the gaming charts and beats even AMD’s recently released AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. Here are some of the benchmarks taken from our own review using a Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master paired with 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 memory and an RTX 4090.
Regardless of whether it’s DX11, or DX12, the Intel Core i9 13900K is powerful enough to keep with the RTX 4090 as most CPUs serve as a bottleneck. Moreover, in CPU-heavy games such as shooters, the Core i9 13900K has way higher performance thanks to the improved Thermal Velocity Boost which boosts the CPU’s clock speed up to 5.8 GHz.
What’s more impressive is that the Intel Core i9 13900K is still on a 10-nanometer process node and draws only 18W slightly higher power than the 5nm 7950X and only reaches 100°c in our testing. For reference, any processor or silicon should have a much more efficient power consumption and thermals as they shrink in size while they become more powerful per Moore’s Law. Seeing what the Intel Core i9 13900K brings to the table knowing that its the same 10nm silicon as the previous flagship i9 12900K proves that doubling cores and shrinking the die isn’t much of a big deal and that the architecture clearly plays an important role.
CONCLUSION
Wrapping it up, the Intel Core i9 13900K and to some extent, the rest of the Intel 13th Gen Core series lineup provide great value and unparalleled performance and flexibility that users get to enjoy without worrying about breaking the bank. You can pair the Intel Core i9 13900K and other 13th Gen CPUs with a Z790 or 700 chipset motherboard to take advantage of the increased PCI-E bandwidth and port connectivity. Z690 or 600 chipset motherboards are a great alternative to those not needing the extra bells and whistles without sacrificing performance. Lastly, the choice of getting a DDR4 or DDR5 motherboard for both 600 and 700 chipsets is a luxury that we missed since Skylake with the transition to DDR4 from DDR3. That said, depending on your upgrade your cost could be as little as the processor itself.
Priced at an estimated Php 37,500, the Intel Core i9 13900K is around Php 7,000 cheaper than the competition yet delivers the same productivity performance and better gaming performance. Not to mention it’s also more affordable in terms of platform cost thanks to the aforementioned backward compatibility. All these features namely the Hybrid core architecture, improved Intel 7 Process, Intel Thread director, backwards compatibility, and competitive pricing makes the Intel Core i9 13900K the best choice for an all-around CPU for gaming and productivity.
Intel 13th Generation Core Series Processors are available at Intel-authorized retailers nationwide – https://linktr.ee/intelphchannels. To learn more about Intel 13th Gen visit the Intel Facebook page.
Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.
