If you’re in the market to buy a new Intel CPU, then we have some solid recommendations for you in our collection of the best Intel CPUs.
The CPU (central processing unit) is one of the most important components inside a PC. It’s what largely determines how much processing power will be available for tasks such as gaming and running software. Choosing the right processor is a complex decision to make, but buying the best CPU is crucial as it plays an intricate role in deciding how well your PC performs in different workloads, how well it runs games, and more. Intel failed to provide answers to AMD’s Ryzen series of processors, but we’re big fans of what the company achieved with the 13th Gen Raptor Lake chips.
There’s a good argument to make for focusing your PC on Intel right now, as even on the laptop side you’ll find many of the best RTX 4090 laptops with Intel chips. The company has caught, and in some cases passed, AMD for performance on heavier workloads, while retaining that traditionally outstanding single-core performance that’s important for gaming. There are a lot of great choices, both on the newest and older platforms. There’s also excellent support across the board in Windows and Linux, allowing for faster clock speeds with better system stability. All this on an older platform makes what Intel has been able to do with 13th-gen processors all that more incredible.
It’s not required to choose the absolute most expensive processor from AMD or Intel to enjoy the best performance for the price. The Intel Core i9 range of chips offers far more performance than most people would require from their PC, which is why we select the Intel Core i5-13600K as the best overall Intel CPU. It’s based on the same Intel 7 (10nm) process as its predecessor, but Intel managed to crank things up a notch further. There are 8 E-cores and 6 P-cores for a total of 14 cores. P-cores support Hyperthreading, resulting in a rather awkward thread total of 20. This is more than enough for gaming and even heavier workloads. Remember when mid-tier CPUs had just four cores?
The base clock speed of the P-cores and E-cores on the Intel Core i5-13600K are 3.5GHz and 2.6GHz, respectively. These are capable of boosting up to 5.1GHz and 3.9GHz. This hybrid design approach allows the P-cores to focus on tasks such as running software or games whereas the E-cores can be used for background tasks or to aid P-cores if additional cores are required. Since-core performance is still comfortably more than what AMD offers with its relative Ryzen 5 CPU, making this Intel chip a worthwhile consideration for just about any desktop PC. It will run fairly hot, thanks to the 125W TDP.
We found in our review testing that the Intel Core i5-13600K runs best with an AIO liquid CPU cooler. In order to make the most of the processor, we’d also recommend using the best DDR5 RAM. If you wish to save a few pennies and are set on the Intel Core i5-13600K, we’d recommend the Intel Core i5-13600KF, which simply removes the integrated graphics. If you plan on always using a discrete graphics card, you’ll have no problems with this more affordable processor SKU.
The Intel Core i9-13900K is a pricey chip and offers incredible levels of performance. This is largely wasted on most PC systems that wouldn’t be able to test the processor and allow it to stretch its legs. That’s where the Intel Core i7-13700K comes in. It’s not quite as powerful as the Core i9 series, but it also costs substantially less. Interestingly, while this chip does have fewer physical cores and threads, gaming performance is about on par with the Core i9-13900K, making it possible to save without sacrificing in-game frame rates.
The 13700K has a total of 16 cores, consisting of 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores.
