I'm not sure about the wisdom of buying a flagship CPU only to substantially reduce its power (to 125W) for the sake of quietness. If such were the goal, the person should buy a cheaper and lower-powered part to begin with. This is Intel's 10nm process, perfected. More efficiency cores and a boatload of features make the 13900K an incredible, versatile chip. We found that the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E motherboard offered superior connectivity as well. Its 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port enables speedy file transfers, surpassing typical home internet speeds. Wi-Fi 6E technology provides fast wireless connections, making online gaming and streaming seamless. Plus, Bluetooth 5.3 support allows convenient music streaming to Bluetooth headphones. Based on our evaluation of using Intel's Core i9-13900F CPU for professional tools, you can expect excellent tool performance with a high-performance CPU cooler.

The only significant difference between the 13900K and last year’s 12900K - other ‘more cores, faster cores’ - is that the 13900K has slightly more cache memory and support for faster DDR5 RAM kits thanks to superior memory bandwidth. The former should provide a small boost to gaming performance, but Intel doesn’t yet have a counter to AMD’s incredible 3D v-cache technology; once the Ryzen 70003D CPUs arrive, Intel could have serious competition in the gaming space once again. Intel’s 12th-gen ‘Alder Lake’ processors were built using the same 10nm process as the i9-13900K, and brought with them a new set of features, most prominently the new 'hybrid' core microarchitecture. This saw cores on the CPU die divided into performance and efficiency cores, a design choice seen previously in ARM chips. With the highest CPU test scores we've seen, there’s no question that Intel’s Core i9-13900K is the fastest consumer-oriented CPU you can buy, earning it our Editors' Choice award. Does that mean it's right for you? It depends on what else you're considering. Intel's Core i9-13900F CPUs have 8 Performance cores (P-cores) and 16 Efficiency cores (E-cores) for a total of 24 cores.

This article compares Intel's Core i9-13900KF and Core i9-13900F desktop CPUs. We evaluated Intel's Core i9-13900KF and Core i9-13900F desktop CPUs to determine which would be better for various use cases. We shaped our testing methodology to focus on each CPU's attributes rather than relying solely on benchmarks.

Its 16 Efficiency cores have a 2.20 GHz base frequency and support a 4.30 GHz max turbo boost frequency. Depending on the game, the CPU will often handle tasks including scene management, gameplay logic, physics calculations, and asset loading. We took these factors into account when assessing the expected CPU performance for gaming. Also as a side note, I saw a 200W max power dissipation in CB23 with my 12700k with a Mugen B, 240W with a NH-D15, and 260W on a 13900kf+CB23 with a Cooler Master ML280 in my personal, less controlled use.That is one of the other things I would have liked to see: a gaming test with those same conditions and coolers.Our recommended feature-rich motherboard to pair with the Core i9-13900KF is the MSI MEG Z790 ACE Gaming. I would advise against running the 13900K without power limits. Because attempting to cool a CPU that’s using over 300W results in a lot of fan noise and heat output for very little increased performance.