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Intel’s 13th-Gen range of CPUs have been extremely popular options for brand new builds, or for those upgrading. During the initial launch back in October 2022 we were absolutely blown away by the new SKUs, with all of the flagship chips providing massive performance bonuses, while keeping prices similar to 12th-Gen options. These new processors come with more cores than ever before, with clock speeds boosting above the 5GHz mark, ensuring your games run as smoothly as possible, and any renders or exports move as fast as possible.
The Core i7 13700K in particular is an incredibly strong options for those looking to build a mid-range or top-end PC. You’ve got access to 16 cores in total, along with 24 threads, making it perfect for more complicated workstation applications that demand a stronger core count. On the clock frequency front, this beast can boost all the way up to 5.4GHz straight out of the box, which makes it one of the strongest CPUs in today’s market. Ensuring your CPU has a high clock speed is a big considering that needs to be made for gamers as the performance demands start to get heftier.
The power consumption of the 13700K is a little bit saddening, with the maximum turbo power sitting around 253W. This does likely mean that you’ll need a stronger and more efficient power supply for your rig, especially if you plan on overclocking. But if you’re only planning on playing games with this CPU, it isn’t likely you’ll ever reach that wattage cap.
It is worth noting that the 13700K is overclockable, hence the ‘K’ notation at the end of the model name. Overclocking isn’t a requirement nowadays, especially as CPUs have become so powerful in recent years, but pushing your CPU beyond its rated clock speed can be beneficial in certain circumstances. You’ll definitely want to pick up a strong PSU for this if you do, along with a Z790 motherboard that has plenty of VRM power phases, to ensure your CPU gets enough power.
For those wondering about RAM choices, the 13th-Gen platform supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. For those just wanting to play games we’d recommend veering towards DDR4, as these DIMMs will be much cheaper, and you can still pick up high capacity kits at a very low price point. If you’re pushing your system with some more intense applications, DDR5 is where we’d go. These kits are generally more expensive than their DDR4 counterparts, especially if you’re buying a low latency kit, But if your motherboard supports higher mega-transfer speeds, you’ll reap the rewards in a huge range of workstation and productivity-based applications.
The Core i7 13700K is an excellent multifaceted CPU that is designed to handle both top-end gaming, and complex multi-core application. At the time of writing, this processor is at an all-time low in terms of pricing, and is one of the best value options for those looking to upgrade, or build a very powerful PC. We’d definitely recommend consumers take a look at this processor, purely based on the price point alone.
At $369.99 at the time of writing, this CPU is an excellent pickup for many:
Intel Core i7 13700K Specs
Specification | Intel Core i7 13700K |
---|---|
CPU Socket | LGA1700 |
Cores | 16 |
Threads | 24 |
Boost Clock Speed | 5.4GHz |
Memory Types | Up to DDR5 5600MHz Up to DDR4 3200MHz |
Total Cache | 54MB |
Max PCI-E Lanes | 20 |