Question 13600k vs 13700k

[Thomaszz]

Hi all,

I am planning on building a new PC soon but I am unsure if I should buy the 13600k or the 13700k. I plan to pair the CPU with a RTX 4070 or 4070ti. I will mainly use the rig for gaming but I do want to make sure that I do not have any bottlenecks going on. I plan on using the new PC for 3-5 years.

Could anyone tell me if the 13700k is worth the extra 100 euros?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dark_globe]

yes it is worth it .
because i7 13700K may very well last you those 3-5 years
even if you swap a video card after 2-3 years down the road ,
but you would probably need to replace i5 somewhere in the middle and
it would probably cost you more than 100 euros difference to do so .

remember despite all the e-cores i5 is essentially still just a six core cpu with HT .
e-cores just help it to multitask better and allow you to run more stuff in the background
while you are gaming but all the heavy lifting is done by 6 powerful cores .

 

[geofelt]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
For gaming, only a handful of threads will be actively used. 20 or 24 will make little difference.
It might make a difference if you play multiplayer with many participants.
Of more import to gaming is the turbo clock rate. 5.4 for the 13700K, 5.1 for the 13600K.
This is most important for cpu centric games such as sims, mmo and strategy.

Quite aside, I suggest you buy the 13700K if you have the means to do so.
If you buy the cheaper option, the 100 euros savings will be sweet for a short time.
But your second guessing will last for much longer.
I have often regretted buying cheaper, but never regretted buying better.

 

[Thomaszz]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
For gaming, only a handful of threads will be actively used. 20 or 24 will make little difference.
It might make a difference if you play multiplayer with many participants.
Of more import to gaming is the turbo clock rate. 5.4 for the 13700K, 5.1 for the 13600K.
This is most important for cpu centric games such as sims, mmo and strategy.

Quite aside, I suggest you buy the 13700K if you have the means to do so.
If you buy the cheaper option, the 100 euros savings will be sweet for a short time.
But your second guessing will last for much longer.
I have often regretted buying cheaper, but never regretted buying better.

Yeah, I will go with the 13700k then. 13700k and a RTX 4070/4070ti will be fine right? No bottlenecking? + a 850w PSU should be enough?

 

[geofelt]

I think you are good.

FWIW:
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.
And... There will always be a limiting factor.

 

[Thomaszz]

I think you are good.

FWIW:
There is no such thing as "bottlenecking"
If, by that, you mean that upgrading a cpu or graphics card can
somehow lower your performance or FPS.
A better term might be limiting factor.
That is where adding more cpu or gpu becomes increasingly
less effective.
And... There will always be a limiting factor.

If I am not mistaken I heard some issues with the 13700k and its temperatures. Is that something I should be worried about. I plan on using a Noctua NH-D15 or Noctua NH-D15S. Depends on the RAM I am buying and if it will fit, considering that CPU cooler is quite big..

Also, thanks for answering my original question

 

[geofelt]

If I am not mistaken I heard some issues with the 13700k and its temperatures. Is that something I should be worried about. I plan on using a Noctua NH-D15 or Noctua NH-D15S. Depends on the RAM I am buying and if it will fit, considering that CPU cooler is quite big..

Also, thanks for answering my original question

I would not worry.
13th gen will run as fast as it can by default given the cooler environment that it finds.
What is the make/model of your case?
If it has decent front intake, I would not be worried with a NH-D15/s.
Here is an interesting article about a 13900K running with less than maximal coolers:

Core i9-13900K Cooling Guide: Testing Intel's Flagship With Budget Air and Big AIOs

The Core i9-13900K can push even the most capable liquid coolers to their limits, but you don’t lose that much performance if you go with budget-priced air cooling.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[Thomaszz]

I would not worry.
13th gen will run as fast as it can by default given the cooler environment that it finds.
What is the make/model of your case?
If it has decent front intake, I would not be worried with a NH-D15/s.
Here is an interesting article about a 13900K running with less than maximal coolers:

Core i9-13900K Cooling Guide: Testing Intel's Flagship With Budget Air and Big AIOs

The Core i9-13900K can push even the most capable liquid coolers to their limits, but you don’t lose that much performance if you go with budget-priced air cooling.

www.tomshardware.com

Here are my PC specs so far:
GPU: 4070 or 4070ti
CPU: 13700k
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15
Storage: WD BLACK SN770 TB or Samsung 970 evo plus 2tb NVME
Case: Corsair 4000D ATX
PSU: Corsair RM850x

Still looking around, but the Corsair 4000D seemed like a solid option.

 

[geofelt]

4000D will work.
I really like the lian Li quality.
For example look at the lian li lancool 216RX which comes with two front 160mm intakes:

https://www.newegg.com/black-lian-li-lancool-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-000Z-000A8

Above all, pick a case with the looks you love. It will be with you for a long time.

 

[Thomaszz]

4000D will work.
I really like the lian Li quality.
For example look at the lian li lancool 216RX which comes with two front 160mm intakes:

https://www.newegg.com/black-lian-li-lancool-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-000Z-000A8

Above all, pick a case with the looks you love. It will be with you for a long time.

Yeah I will stick with the 4000D. I see you are using the Noctua NH-D15s. Only reason I mentioned the small version is because the normal version is quite big and seems to need an adjustment of one of the CPU fans to fit your RAM. I don't know if this is a real hassle or if I should just buy the normal version. Cooling wise there is little to no difference right?

 

[Why_Me]

Here are my PC specs so far:
GPU: 4070 or 4070ti
CPU: 13700k
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15
Storage: WD BLACK SN770 TB or Samsung 970 evo plus 2tb NVME
Case: Corsair 4000D ATX
PSU: Corsair RM850x

Still looking around, but the Corsair 4000D seemed like a solid option.

What country are you located? The reason I ask is there is less expensive solutions to put you into an i7, cpu cooler and case with better airflow.

 

[Thomaszz]

What country are you located? The reason I ask is there is less expensive solutions to put you into an i7, cpu cooler and case with better airflow.

The Netherlands

 

[Why_Me]

The Netherlands

This gives you a case with better airflow (2x140mm front intake fans + 1x120mm rear exhaust fan) and a power supply with PCIe 5.0.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700F 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor (€398.85 @ Azerty)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler (€53.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€224.95 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€117.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Video Card: *Gigabyte EAGLE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card (€949.00 @ Azerty)
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case (€66.23 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Power Supply: *MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€134.00 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (€8.01 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Total: €2072.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-07 19:07 CEST+0200

A better look at those components.

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-2/black-tg-clear-tint/

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B760-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-1x

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html

AG620 - DeepCool

The DeepCool AG620 is a dual-tower 120mm CPU cooler that boasts impressive 260W cooling power performance that's been stripped down and optimized for terrific efficiency throughout. - DeepCool was founded with the mission of providing professional, innovative, high-performance PC hardware and...

www.deepcool.com

 

[geofelt]

Yeah I will stick with the 4000D. I see you are using the Noctua NH-D15s. Only reason I mentioned the small version is because the normal version is quite big and seems to need an adjustment of one of the CPU fans to fit your RAM. I don't know if this is a real hassle or if I should just buy the normal version. Cooling wise there is little to no difference right?

The NH-D15 and NH-D15s are essentially the same size and capability.
Look at the specs on the noctua site to see a detailed diagram of each cooler.

One could add a front fan to the NH-D15s, tests show only a 2c. difference. Not worth the bother to me.

 

[Thomaszz]

This gives you a case with better airflow (2x140mm front intake fans + 1x120mm rear exhaust fan) and a power supply with PCIe 5.0.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700F 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor (€398.85 @ Azerty)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler (€53.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€224.95 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€117.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Video Card: *Gigabyte EAGLE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card (€949.00 @ Azerty)
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case (€66.23 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Power Supply: *MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€134.00 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (€8.01 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Total: €2072.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-07 19:07 CEST+0200

A better look at those components.

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-2/black-tg-clear-tint/

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B760-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-1x

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html

AG620 - DeepCool

The DeepCool AG620 is a dual-tower 120mm CPU cooler that boasts impressive 260W cooling power performance that's been stripped down and optimized for terrific efficiency throughout. - DeepCool was founded with the mission of providing professional, innovative, high-performance PC hardware and...

www.deepcool.com

Isn't the airflow of the Corsair 4000D just fine?
Why the switch from the I7-13700K to a I7-13700F?
Isn't a good pair of DDR4 sticks better than DDR5 right now? Why the need for a DDR5 MOBO?

 

[geofelt]

The ONLY advantage of a I7-13700F compared to a I7-13700K is that it is $25 or so cheaper.
For that piddling saving, you give up the ability to keep running if you have issues with your discrete graphics card.
You also give up overclocking capability. Not that most will not OC anyway.
And... you also do not get quick sync capability which may or may not be of use to you.

Intel Quick Sync Video - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Why_Me]

Isn't the airflow of the Corsair 4000D just fine?
Why the switch from the I7-13700K to a I7-13700F?
Isn't a good pair of DDR4 sticks better than DDR5 right now? Why the need for a DDR5 MOBO?

The Corsair 4000D comes with 1x120mm front intake fan + 120mm rear exhaust fan. The 13700F not only runs cooler than the 13700K, it gives you near identical performance for less money while allowing you to use a less expensive B760 board. Agree with the DDR4.

https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product...-atx-lga1700-motherboard-pro-b760-p-wifi-ddr4
MSI PRO B760-P WIFI DDR4 €164.90

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B760-P-WIFI-DDR4

Locked 12 gen i7 vs unlocked 12 gen i7. The difference is one frame per second on average. I doubt it's any different with the 13 gen i7's.

 

[Why_Me]

The ONLY advantage of a I7-13700F compared to a I7-13700K is that it is $25 or so cheaper.
For that piddling saving, you give up the ability to keep running if you have issues with your discrete graphics card.
You also give up overclocking capability. Not that most will not OC anyway.
And... you also do not get quick sync capability which may or may not be of use to you.

Intel Quick Sync Video - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If someone wants integrated graphics then there is the i7 13700 and yes those locked i7's aren't as power hungry as the unlocked i7 cpu's yet for some strange reason some posters keep advocating for the more power hungry heat producing unlocked cpu's.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html
Processor Base Power: 65W
Maximum Turbo Power: 219W

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-40-ghz/specifications.html
Processor Base Power: 125W
Maximum Turbo Power: 253W

 

[geofelt]

The maximum 253w turbo power of the 13700K is because the max turbo is allowed to go to 5.4 vs. 5.2

 

[Thomaszz]

The Corsair 4000D comes with 1x120mm front intake fan + 120mm rear exhaust fan. The 13700F not only runs cooler than the 13700K, it gives you near identical performance for less money while allowing you to use a less expensive B760 board. Agree with the DDR4.

https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product...-atx-lga1700-motherboard-pro-b760-p-wifi-ddr4
MSI PRO B760-P WIFI DDR4 €164.90

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B760-P-WIFI-DDR4

Locked 12 gen i7 vs unlocked 12 gen i7. The difference is one frame per second on average. I doubt it's any different with the 13 gen i7's.

What is the difference between a B760 and a Z790?

Agree with the DDR4.

I will go with DDR4 then, any recommendations? Had my eyes on these https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product...16-gb-ddr4-3200-cl16-memory-f4-3200c16d-32gvk But I am willing to pay more if there are better DDR4 kits out there price/performane wise

 

[Why_Me]

What is the difference between a B760 and a Z790?

I will go with DDR4 then, any recommendations? Had my eyes on these https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product...16-gb-ddr4-3200-cl16-memory-f4-3200c16d-32gvk But I am willing to pay more if there are better DDR4 kits out there price/performane wise

This set.

https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product/Yg3mP6/corsair-vengeance-lpx-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr4-3600-memory-cmk32gx4m2d3600c18

 

[Why_Me]

What is the difference between a B760 and a Z790?

I will go with DDR4 then, any recommendations? Had my eyes on these https://nl.pcpartpicker.com/product...16-gb-ddr4-3200-cl16-memory-f4-3200c16d-32gvk But I am willing to pay more if there are better DDR4 kits out there price/performane wise

The Z790 chipset allows for overclocking and offers more PCIe lanes if someone chooses to run dual M.2 SSD's.

 

[geofelt]

Here is a link to what features each lga1700 chipset potentially has:

LGA 1700 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Thomaszz]

Here is a link to what features each lga1700 chipset potentially has:

LGA 1700 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Most of the stuff I don't really recognize. Do I need more PCIe lanes? I will not run dual M.2 SSD's, 1 2TB M.2 SSD seems more than enough for me.
Other than that are there any noticeable changes? I can not seem to find any.

I do not think I will be overclocking my CPU, never done it before. In that case what is the fastest 13700 version? I understand the K version is for overclocking but do not know about the rest.

 

[Thomaszz]

This gives you a case with better airflow (2x140mm front intake fans + 1x120mm rear exhaust fan) and a power supply with PCIe 5.0.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700F 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor (€398.85 @ Azerty)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler (€53.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€224.95 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€119.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Storage: *Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€117.90 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Video Card: *Gigabyte EAGLE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card (€949.00 @ Azerty)
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case (€66.23 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Power Supply: *MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€134.00 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (€8.01 @ Amazon Netherlands)
Total: €2072.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-07 19:07 CEST+0200

A better look at those components.

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-2/black-tg-clear-tint/

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B760-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-1x

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html

AG620 - DeepCool

The DeepCool AG620 is a dual-tower 120mm CPU cooler that boasts impressive 260W cooling power performance that's been stripped down and optimized for terrific efficiency throughout. - DeepCool was founded with the mission of providing professional, innovative, high-performance PC hardware and...

www.deepcool.com

I do dig the MSI PSU on this one but what is the benefit of the PCIe 5.0? Is it better than the Corsair RM850x?