What CPU is equivalent to Core i5 13600K?

What CPU is equivalent to Core i5 13600K? Let's find out

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The Intel Core i5-13600K is an excellent mid-range processor. It delivers top-tier performance that isn’t overkill for practical purposes, is relatively affordable (at least, compared to many of the other options we have), and arguably has one of the best price-to-performance ratios the 13th-generation Intel Core lineup has to offer. Let’s discuss what CPU is equivalent to Core i5 13600K.

Now Read: Best CPU for gaming 2023

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Intel Core i5-13600K specifications

The 13600K has the following specs: 

• Cores: P-cores 6 / E-cores 8
• Threads: 20
• Base clock frequency: P-cores 3.5 GHz / E-cores 2.6 GHz
• Boost clock frequency: P-cores 5.1 GHz / E-cores 3.9 GHz
• L3 cache: 20MB
• Default TDP: 125 W / 181 W boost.
• iGPU: Intel UHD graphics 770

You can think of it as the typical 6-core, 12-thread performance-focused processor, except that it has an additional 8 efficiency cores to help improve energy efficiency at lower workloads and to complement the base processor’s multicore performance. 

Because efficiency cores have a much lower boost clock of 3.5GHz, they don’t really contribute significantly to a processor’s single-core performance. 

Read our in-depth i5-13600K review to learn more. 

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What CPU is equivalent to the Core i5-13600K?

The CPU we believe to be the closest equivalent to the i5-13600K is the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. You may have been expecting the Ryzen 5 7600X here, as that’s technically the direct competitor to the 13600K. 

However, based on CPU specs and performance-indicating benchmarks, it’s clear that there is a noticeable performance gap between the 13600K and 7600K, especially in multicore performance, where the 12-threaded 7600K simply can’t keep up. 

As such, the 7700X offers much better competition to the 13600K. Let’s see how the two compare. 

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

The 7700X  is an 8-core, 16-thread processor. Now, at first glance, it seems like the 7700X wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to a 14-core, 20-thread processor like the 13600K. Of course, that’s not the case. 

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

Cores

8

Threads

16

Base speed

4.5GHz

Boost speed

5.4GHz

Cache

32MB

Socket

AM5

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See, the 13600K is 8 efficiency cores that don’t really add much to the processor’s overall performance. Its 6 performance cores are what actually do most of the work. 

And the 7700X has 8 of these performance core equivalents, with no efficiency cores. Essentially, the 7700X has 2 extra performance cores but lacks 6 of the efficiency cores possessed by the 13600K. 

The two processors end up offering similar performance, with the 13600K taking a slight lead in the most demanding workloads such as video encoding, file compression, 3D rendering, and other general productivity work. 

The Ryzen 7 7700X does make up for the slightly lower multicore performance with its exceptional single-core ability. The processor can boost all the way up to a massive 5.4GHz clock speed, which is 300MHz greater than the 13600K’s max 5.1GHz clock. 

With the help of the 14% IPC increase AMD awarded to all Zen 4 processors and a larger L3 cache, the 7700X is able to take the lead in single-thread performance. That translates into marginally higher in-game framerates when the FPS is left uncapped. 

You would need to pair up the 7700X with a high-end GPU, such as a 6800XT or 3080, to see the incredible performance this processor has to offer. Here are the best GPUs for the Ryzen 7 7700X.