Intel Core i7-13700K Review: Good Power At A Good Price
The 13th generation Intel Core i7-13700K is a pretty powerful processor. Being one of the best i7 processors, it offers great gaming performance, which will also back up as a good power source for your productive apps as well.
Therefore, if you wish to buy a new processor in 2023 with a budget of around $400, then read this post till the end.
Intel Core i7-13700K Release Date & Price
The Intel Core i7-13700K release date was September 27, 2022, last year. It had a launch price of $409. However, the current Intel Core i7-13700K price is still the same and has not dropped one bit.
Intel Core i7-13700K Specifications
The main Intel Core i7-13700K specs are:
| Number of Cores | 16 |
| Number of Threads | 24 |
| Clock Speed (Base) | 3.2 GHz |
| Clock Speed (Boost/Max) | 5.4 GHz |
| Cache (l2 + L3) | 60 MB (24 MB +36 MB) |
| Architecture | Raptor Lake |
| Manufacturing Process | 10 nm |
| Memory | DDR5 5600 |
| Motherboard Socket | Intel FCLGA 1700 |
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD 770 |
| Integrated Graphics Speed | 1.6 GHz |
| TDP (Thermal Design Power) | 125 Watts |
Intel Core i7-13700K Benchmarks & Performance
Here are the base specifications of the test computer setup I used for this review:
| Processor | 13th Generation Intel Core i7-13700K |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA RTX 3080 10 GB |
| RAM | 32 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB SSD |
| Motherboard | MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi |
Note: I also used other competing processors for this review, like the i9-13900KS, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and the Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
However, it would be unfair to compare older processors like the i5-11600K and the Ryzen 5 7600X since they are weaker.
Similarly, my Intel Core i7-13700K review will consist of various benchmarking tests, which are as follows:
1. Cinebench R23 Test (Both Multi & Single Thread Tests)
A more accurate picture of a CPU’s stability and cooling system performance when handling demanding 3D tasks is given by the Cinbench R23 test. I can determine the i7-13700K single and multi-threaded performance with this tool.
The performance of the CPU for simpler tasks like web browsing, office work, and viewing movies is related to the number of single-threaded cores. However, while performing more demanding tasks like gaming, 3D modeling, and video editing, many threads are used.
Have a look at how well this processor performs compared to competitors:
| Processor | Single-Threaded Score | Multi-Threaded Score |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i3-13700K | 1,694 | 32,799 |
| Intel Core i3-13900KS | 2,259 | 38,821 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 2,021 | 37,014 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 2,067 | 36,433 |
From the Cinebench R23 scores above, you can see that the i7-13700K is outperformed by both its AMD rivals – the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Ryzen 9 7950X3D. However, the performance is not as high as expected, considering this is a 5.4 GHz processor.
PugetBench Tests (Adobe Creative Suite)
Graphical design is one of the primary reasons why people desire to switch to using a high-speed processor.
Contrary to what you may anticipate, graphic design actually relies less on the GPU’s power. The rendering capabilities of the processor are more heavily utilized by programs like the Adobe Creative suite.
To do so, the PugetBench benchmarking app is the best for this task. Here’s the PugetBench score of the Intel Core i7-13700K, compared with its competitors:
| Processor | Adobe Photoshop | Adobe Premiere Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7-13700K | 1,185 | 1,102 |
| Intel Core i9-13900KS | 1,489 | 1,189 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 1,325 | 1,209 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 1,266 | 1,152 |
Here, we observe that 5.4 Ghz is meaningless when using Adobe Photoshop, an activity that uses relatively fewer resources. This is because the i9-13900KS at 6 GHz performs a little bit better in this area. When I used Photoshop as usual, it rendered everything on the screen flawlessly and operated like a dream.
Here, the i7-13700K performs well when it comes to video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro. Its greater number of rendering threads is partly to blame for this. Although editing the film on the timeline felt incredibly smooth, generating a 4-minute video took me virtually comparable amounts of time on both CPUs.
Blender 2.93 Test (Image Rendering Time)
Blender is one of the top free software available on the market for 3D modeling and animation. I then requested that my buddy send me her work, which was a really intricate 3D model that she created.
When I tried to render it from my system, here were the results:
| Processor | Image Rendering (Time In Seconds) |
|---|---|
| Intel Core i7-13700K | 78 |
| Intel Core i9-13900KS | 63 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 72 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 70 |
Again, I saw that the i9 13900KS performs better here than the i7-13700K. I guess that the use of many cores makes the processor warm up faster, lowering performance.
Unreal Engine 5 Game Development Test
One of the top tools for creating video games right now is Unreal Engine 5. But utilizing it to make incredible video games like the upcoming Black Myth: Wukong shows just how potent a tool it is for game production.
All UE 5 development procedures, though, adhere to the same construction, cooking, and packaging process. Compression, compilation, and asset optimization are all involved in this. Running the entire process requires a lot of energy.
Here are the rendering times for rendering a scene:
| Processor | Rendering Time (In Seconds) |
|---|---|
| Intel Core i7-13700K | 80.5 |
| Intel Core i9-13900KS | 72.7 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 67.9 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 67.9 |
Here, the Ryzen 9 processors are the clear winner. However, you can see that the Ryzen processors actually swing out powerfully here compared to the statistically more powerful i9-13900KS.
Visual Studio C++ Software Development Test
Similar to game development on UE 5, Windows software development on Visual Studio 2022 C++ is no slouch either. Here are the results of deploying a program on this software:
| Processor | Deploy Time (In Seconds) |
|---|---|
| Intel Core i7-13700K | 49.6 |
| Intel Core i9-13900KS | 44.1 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 44.8 |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 46.8 |
Again, the i3-13900KS is the clear winner here.
Gaming Tests
Now, here comes my favorite test to test – gaming performance.
As usual, I tested all four of these processors. Here are the frames that I got, playing all of these titles at 1080p max settings with RTX turned on and DLSS turned off:
| Games | i7-13700K | i9-13900K | Ryzen 9 7950X | Ryzen 9 7950X3D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 212 | 228 | 237 | 235 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 206 | 228 | 237 | 235 |
| A Plague Tale: Requiem | 214 | 228 | 237 | 235 |
| Hitman 3 | 222 | 228 | 237 | 235 |
| Horizon: Zero Dawn | 202 | 232 | 228 | 237 |
The i7-13700K does offer fantastic frames, as you can see above, especially when combined with top-tier GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. It is intended to be utilized for professional rendering tasks and is not intended to be a gaming processor. However, Ryzen processors appear to have an advantage overall in gaming.
Final Verdict: Is The Intel Core i7-13700K Worth Buying In 2023?
The 13th Generation Intel Core 17-13700K is a pretty powerful processor for the price of $409. Its favorably compared to many of its competitors, even beating many of them. If you are a gamer or visual artist, buy this processor without hesitation if you want something powerful at around $400.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Best i7 processorAffordable price to performance valueSupport both DDR4 and DDR5 memory | It has a higher TDP compared to other processorsIt gets hot very quickly |
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