Intel Core i9-13900KF Gaming Desktop Processor 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) - Unlocked

Product Information

The increased cooling challenges posed by Raptor Lake mean that we’ve had to change some of the ways we test. Some coolers were able to pass Cinebench R23 multicore testing with Intel’s 12th Gen i9-12900K when power limits were removed, although only the strongest models were able to pass that test. Most liquid coolers and all air coolers I’ve tested “failed” that test because the CPU reached TJ max (the highest temperature before throttling) in this scenario. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900KF CPU for general apps, you can expect excellent app performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. Essentially bonks its competitors and its predecessors over the head with insanely good performance in every possible area.

Intel processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families. See http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html for details. It even has the same integrated graphics, Intel UHD Graphics 770, although don’t expect too much from this. It’s capable of running standard computing tasks at output resolutions up to 8K, but you won’t be using it for gaming or any demanding graphical software. Besides, if you can afford this chip, you can afford a discrete graphics card.

Add CPUs to start comparisons

Intel's Core i9-13900KF CPUs have 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 16 Efficiency cores (E-cores) for a total of 24 cores. The more cores a CPU has, the more applications you can run simultaneously without noticing a performance impact. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900F CPU for general apps, you can expect excellent app performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900K CPU for professional tools, you can expect excellent tool performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. This is Intel's 10nm process, perfected. More efficiency cores and a boatload of features make the 13900K an incredible, versatile chip.

This article compares Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900KF desktop CPUs. We evaluated Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900KF desktop CPUs to determine which would be better for various use cases. We shaped our testing methodology to focus on each CPU's attributes rather than relying solely on benchmarks. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900F CPU for gaming, you can expect excellent game performance with a high-performance CPU cooler.When I began testing coolers on Intel’s i9-12900K, I found that many products that cooled the i9-10900K well now struggled in some scenarios when paired with the Alder Lake CPU – and Raptor Lake is even more difficult to cool in these situations. I would advise against running the 13900K without power limits. Because attempting to cool a CPU that’s using over 300W results in a lot of fan noise and heat output for very little increased performance. Modern AMD & Intel CPUs are designed to run fairly hot without any problems – up to 95 degrees Celsius for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs, and up to 100 degrees C for Intel Raptor Lake CPUs. Similar behavior has been standard in laptops for years due to cooling limitations. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900KF CPU for gaming, you can expect excellent game performance with a high-performance CPU cooler.

However, when pushing this chip to the absolute limits of its performance, it turns into a seriously power-hungry beast. We registered a max power draw of 337W during our tests, massively more than any other mainstream CPU on the market right now. This isn’t a deal-breaker by any means, but it does mean that you may need to spring for a hefty power supply if you want to routinely use this chip for highly resource-intensive tasks. Intel's Core i9-13900F CPUs have 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 16 Efficiency cores (E-cores) for a total of 24 cores. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900K CPU for general apps, you can expect excellent app performance with a high-performance CPU cooler. Lastly, I would like to see R23 bench numbers for the 125W and 200W power levels, and not just temp.

Sockets Supported

So, whether you’re Team 13900K or Team 13900KF, one thing is for sure: with either of these processors, you’re in for a fantastic computing experience. Just make sure your CPU cooler is up to the task, or your PC might end up hotter than a summer day in the Sahara. Its 16 Efficiency cores have a 2.20 GHz base frequency and support a 4.30 GHz max turbo boost frequency. See http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/hyper-threading/hyper-threading-technology.html?wapkw=hyper+threading for more information including details on which processors support Intel® HT Technology. Gaming performance measures how well the processor calculates gaming operations like in-game physics by running several games' integrated benchmark tools like CyberPunk 2077, Metro: Exodus, and F1 2022. In all cases, we run the benchmarks on the lowest graphics settings available at 1080p and using the most powerful graphics card we have available and with 32GB RAM to isolate the actual CPU operations we are testing without having to worry about inteference with excessive memory or graphics management.