Question Upgrading from an i7-8700K, looking at the i7 13700K

[DigitalNinja]

Since September I've slowly been purchasing the various parts for a full PC upgrade, I've got a RTX 3070, Z790 Tomahawk Mobo, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 @6400MHz, and recently picked up a RM1000e Corsair PSU.

I'll be keeping my current storage SSDs, but now I'm looking at the most crucial part, the CPU. and by extension, an AIO water cooler.

Given the price point of the 13700K, I've found one on Amazon for £360, and would be looking to buy it just before Christmas.

But I'm looking for a good balance between performance and price, I've heard many say to get the 14000K instead as the price different isn't that much, but the performance isn't apparently that much better for the price of it.

I could use a little help on this as the old parts of my PC will be going into a new case and given to my younger brother as a, as of now, late Christmas present.

 

[Lutfij]

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...t-lga1700-processor-retail-pro-int-00800.html
is about £400

As for your cooling, what case are you working with? You should look no less than a 360mm AIO.

 

[DigitalNinja]

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...t-lga1700-processor-retail-pro-int-00800.html
is about £400

As for your cooling, what case are you working with? You should look no less than a 360mm AIO.

I got the Corsair Carbide with the windowed side panel. Mid tower, regular ATX size case.

 

[DigitalNinja]

I think for the most part the case would be ok, just trying to decide on the best option for CPU and AIO.

 

[geofelt]

You will get fair value on the cpu at any price point.
13700K is a very big upgrade over 8700K.
If you have the budget, buy the stronger option or you will forever be second guessing yourself.

Since price is an issue, why in the world are you insisting on an aio cooler?
If your workload can fill all of the processing threads, then, perhaps.
But for gaming you will not likely fill the 24 threads available.
Look at these two videos:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFgswzTvyc

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

 

[boju]

I agree. Air cooler all the way if you don't want to worry about pump failure at some point, possible corrosion and air bubbles.

People repeated the same fear for 9900k/10700k, water was a must to cool these things. I have 11700k with D15 and it never reaches over mid 60s gaming. Long as you spread paste properly, you won't have issues. Often pea drop in the middle is sufficient but that's only if you're bangon levelled when placing the heatsink which is pretty hard to do all the time. If not levelled you get uneven spread and not much contact going on between entire ihs and heatsink. Can only check so many times. Spread manually with glad wrap (to avoid oil contaminants) on finger pulled tight for a smooth finger, a small pea worth of paste leaving roughly millimetre around the edges for extra spread. Done it like that for several builds with always good reliable results.

 

[Eximo]

Yep, 12700K under a cinebench load with a mild overclock, like 220W.

Gaming, maybe in the low 100Ws, which is easily dealt with by a larger air cooler.

Thermalright Peerless Assassin is the go to cooler. The fans can be swapped from something better if desired.

Or a more expensive cooler up front from the likes of be quiet! or Noctua.

 

[DigitalNinja]

Ok, that's fair But the AiO was a gift, and I'd rather stick with water cooling as it's just my preference, thanks.

I will look into the Thermalright Peerless Assassin, and that is fairly cheap and the reviews are very positive. Thank you.

 

[logainofhades]

To be perfectly honest, your 8700k is probably sufficient still, to fully utilize that 3070. You do set yourself up for handling a better GPU in the future, with this upgrade, though.

I would probably choose a 14700k, if building a new Intel rig. It's the only 14th gen with an increase in core count, over its 13th gen counterpart, as it was given 4 more E-Cores.