What is best for you?

• 

  Source: Intel

  Intel Core i7-13700 k

  Editor’s Pick

  Intel’s Core i7-13700K is one of the company’s mid-range 13th generation processors, with 16 cores and 24 threads. It’s very powerful and doesn’t cost as much as the Core i9.

  cores

  8/8

  threads

  24

  Base clock speed

  2.50GHz / 3.40GHz

  Increase clock speed

  4.20GHz / 5.40GHz

  TDP

  125 watts

  Positives

  • Hybrid heart design
  • Supports DDR4 RAM

  cons

  • oldest manufacturing process
  • Higher pulling force

• 

  Source: AMD

  AMD Ryzen 9 7900X

  The best value

  The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is one of the most powerful Ryzen 7000 processors. It has 12 cores and 24 threads, uses a newer manufacturing process, and offers a great value.

  cores

  12

  threads

  24

  Base clock speed

  4.7 GHz

  Increase clock speed

  5.6 GHz

  TDP

  170 watts

  Positives

  • Latest manufacturing process
  • Less power draw

  cons

  • Worse performance per core
  • It does not support DDR4 RAM

Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Ryzen 9 7900X are completely different processors. The Intel chip is a mid-range processor while the 7900X is from the Ryzen 9 family of chips and is positioned to be one of the most powerful options from the red team. We’ve reviewed and tested processors extensively to understand how they perform and who they’re designed for. This guide will help you choose between the Intel Core i7-13700K vs. the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X.

• 	Intel Core i7-13700 k	AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
  cores	8/8	12
  threads	24	24
  building	Raptor Lake	Zen 4
  practical	Intel 7 (10 nm)	TSMC 5 nm
  Plug	LGA 1700	AM5
  Base clock speed	2.50GHz / 3.40GHz	4.7 GHz
  Increase clock speed	4.20GHz / 5.40GHz	5.6 GHz
  cache	24 MB	76 MB
  ram	DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600	DDR5-5200
  PCIe	5.0	5.0
  graphics	Intel UHD Graphics 770 graphics card	AMD Radeon graphics
  TDP	125 watts	170 watts

Price and availability

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is the more affordable of the two, costing $450. The Intel Core i7-13700K comes in at just $410. Interestingly, the Core i7-13700K has the same number of cores and threads as an AMD processor, but directly comparing the two chips isn’t possible simply with specs alone. That’s because Intel and AMD use different core designs and manufacturing processes, which we’ll go into more detail now.

Intel Core i7-13700K vs AMD Ryzen 7900X: Apples vs. Oranges

Source: XDA-Developers

Intel makes desktop processors a little differently than AMD, especially with its 12th and 13th generation chips. The company has switched from the traditional core design to a hybrid design, which consists of the usual performance (P-cores) and the latest efficient cores (e-cores). AMD simply uses P-cores with its Ryzen 7000 generation of processors. Intel’s approach allows the Core i7-3700K to draw less power and produce less heat when not under full load, but performance doesn’t differ much between the two.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has a total of 12 cores and 24 threads. It’s capable of boosting up to 5.6GHz, which is great for a processor without manual overclocking. The Intel Core i7-13700K has 8 cores, 8 electronic cores, and a total of 24 threads. This required Intel to change how Windows interacts with its processors, which caused some issues at first, but we’re now seeing some positive results now that the technology has matured. We’ll get to performance shortly.

Intel’s Raptor Lake processors still use an older, less efficient 10nm manufacturing process. AMD uses TSMC’s 5nm process, which allows the company to achieve some excellent power draw and performance per watt results. This allows AMD to push the processors more aggressively without overheating.

Intel Core i7-13700K vs. AMD Ryzen 7900X: Gaming and Overall Performance

The difference between the Intel Core i7-13700K and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X isn’t huge, largely because they both have an equal number of cores and threads, as well as similar clock speeds—at least for their full-power performance cores. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X may be part of the company’s flagship SKU, but this is the entry-level Ryzen 9, which goes up against Intel’s mid-tier processor, the Core i7-13700K.

We look at Cinebench R23 first and the Intel Core i7-13700K processor works really well. It beats the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X on both the single and multi-core tests.

The story is similar to that of Geekbench 5.0, but AMD wins the multi-core test here. The performance of both processors is excellent and you will appreciate the power available. Finally, we have 3DMark and the Time Spy Extreme CPU test. The Core i7-13700K comfortably beats the Ryzen 9 7900X.

Aside from these synthetic benchmarks, you won’t notice much difference between the processors, unless you plan to use top-of-the-line graphics cards or need a capable enthusiast or workstation CPU.

What is the right CPU for you?

Although the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is one of the more powerful Ryzen 7000 chipsets, we still recommend the Intel Core i7-13700K for its excellent performance and value. It beats the Ryzen processor in many tests, including gaming, and is one of the best CPUs you can buy. Being able to use existing DDR4 RAM with newer 12th and 13th Gen motherboards can save you significant amounts of money.

It’s not all good news for Intel, as the Core i7-13700K, like Intel’s 13th-generation chips, draws quite a bit of power. They are built using a less efficient process and have more cores and threads. All that extra performance requires more electricity, and you can expect to see the Core i7-13700K draw more than the Ryzen 9 7900X. AMD’s Ryzen 9 7900X is priced more aggressively, though we’d still recommend the cheaper AMD Ryzen 9 7900 non-X version since you can easily overclock it to meet the 7900X’s performance.

Source: AMD

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X

The best value

The AMD Ryzen 7000 offers the best performance you can get right now, with up to 32 cores and more.