Intel Core i9-13900KS

[Dr. Dro]

Money no object it would definately be 7950X3D vs 13900K, maybe not KS given the shown £/gain ratio.

On a budget; 13700K vs. 7800X3D.

Reviews don't seem to show the whole picture unfortunately. W1zz gives performance numbers I feel I can trust, but there is sooo much more to the story (for me at least) which I'm not sure belongs in or can even be quantified in a HW review. Namely (from, maybe excessive, forum research or just news articles) in no particular order:

AMD+: power consumption, auto OC, gaming performance/£, slight AMD fanboy problem in that I dont like Nvidia sharp practices and have been bitten by past HW bugs, socket longevity, more PCIE lanes
AMD-: USB issues, BIOS issues - many AGESA updates sort of indicate this, needing to know what -30 PBO is, my perception MS W10/11 just not favouring them, limited DDR5 b/w, X3D core affinity
Intel+: single core performance, superficially seems fit and forget, MS seems(?) to favour Intel, better DDR5 b/w, P + E cores seem to be handled better by MS.
Intel-: power consumption - although this is controversial (apparently??), Spectre/meltdown type issues, socket EOL, less PCIE lanes.

As much as I want a 7800X3D I have this nagging doubt.

I'm still rocking a 6700K and am out of the modern loop, but the 6700K was very differnt from the preceeding C2D E8600, my next CPU will be the same.

Given the marketing (E) cores on a 13700K are 2x (ish) a 6700K, plus 8 P cores @ +1GHz and +20% (ish???) IPC of a 6700K, I think the upgrade experience for me might be similar to a NASA Apollo moon scientist going from the computing power of a Casio smartwatch to a modern workstation. It's my cash and I'm apparently still worrying about this. I think I need a life and spend more time with my kids! But at least this hobby is cheaper than my dream 993.

The latest Spectre type exploits primarily targeted the Zen architecture and patches to fix them were also issued. AGESA v2 1.2.0.8 for AM4 was specifically targeted to fix a high-severity CVE. Side-channel speculative execution exploits are pretty much here to stay, on both manufacturers' hardware.

Raptor Cove is *way* faster than just 20% over Skylake. It's closer to 20% over Alder Lake's Golden Cove as it is, simple benchmarks such as CPU-Z's rate the 13900KS single-thread 50% above the 5950X(!). It's around 1000 points. Here, quick n dirty one with all my stuff open (including Fallout 76 on the background):

Realistically of course, there is more to the picture to that, but this CPU managed to deeply impress me and it's not like the 5950X is even close to a slouch, quite the opposite, it's still as powerful a processor as it ever was. This chip is a monster, it's the only way to describe it.

Yes i am a where that they are more efficient. But it dosent change that amd and intel are pushing these cpu´s way out of there eficient range, compared to zen 3. The temperature and power consumption shows that. Just to put some numbers. 5950X tdp is 105 watt but more like 141 watt in real life however 7950X is 170 while its 230 watt in real life. Intel 13900K is more like around 300 watt and 13900KS is 355 watt is seems. Intel amd just let there cpus sipping more and more power and opperate out of where they most efficient. Just to get that last piece of performance that comes with high temperatures and power consumption. Even with PBO my 5950X max out at 200 watt. stil less than 7950X do stock.

Have not seen mine go above 300 W yet, including in stress test scenarios. But it's temperature limited at 100, below what W1zz has set his sample to.

 

[Tek-Check]

It's actually Intel+AMD that are competing against Apple in the laptop/mac mini/pro space. Apple probably has more profits from the sale of Mx chips, obviously including the costs of the entire product, than these two combined!

Apple currently has ~10% of market share. This may go to ~20% by 2026.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Apple currently has ~10% of market share. This may go to ~20% by 2026.

10% is remarkably high for the Macintosh, is this global or American market? If it's 10% of the American market I believe it, Macs are prohibitively expensive otherwise.

 

[Vario]

Might I say the 13900KS does as well? Might not suck at performance, but sucks juice outta the mains with a pump-powered straw.

Probably undervolts and underclocks well though. KS series tend to.

 

[mamide]

Useless CPU ... it's only for benchs no more !!!

 

[trparky]

But I personally feel (it's only an impression based on the current numbers, and I can always be corrected, of course ;-)) that it is the swan's song of this architecture. I mean, those consumption numbers are far too high.

I mentioned that earlier in this thread. I agree, this architecture is at the end of its line; there's no more gas left in the tank.

 

[Ruru]

Reminds me of Pentium 4 EE aka Emergency Edition.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Probably undervolts and underclocks well though. KS series tend to.

Yes, ofc as it's the best silicone you can get for RPL atm.

People see the 350-400w and go omg lol. Nobody in their right mind is going to be running a 13900K/KS that high for general usage. I'm sure as hell not.

The 13400F has some of the best efficiency numbers according to w1z's reviews. This is something that can def be done with 13900K/KS.

Only hardcore enthusiast that delid, direct die, chillers and try get 46k+ in CB + 8000MHz on memory with Apex are going to get these CPU's to 450w+ and they will likely kick ass too.

I get W1z has to do out of the box reviewing, but these CPU's can be tuned very well.

I'm not taking anything away from AMD CPU's they are running a lot less power out the box. Some impressive numbers from AMD. Something Intel def needs to look at.

Let's see what they bring with RPL refresh.

 

[trparky]

Reminds me of Pentium 4 EE aka Emergency Edition.

Uh-huh. Let's push the clocks as fast as we can and damn the power usage.

This is a processor that's made for those people who absolutely must have the best of the best of the best and doesn't care about how high their electric bill will be from running the processor itself and the AC cooling that's going to be needed to keep the room cool.

 

[Ruru]

Uh-huh. Let's push the clocks as fast as we can and damn the power usage.

This is a processor that's made for those people who absolutely must have the best of the best of the best and doesn't care about how high their electric bill will be from running the processor itself and the AC cooling that's going to be needed to keep the room cool.

And it gives Intel the bragging rights to say that they have the first CPU on the market which can hit 6GHz.

 

[KarymidoN]

Amazing review. kudos @W1zzard
13900KS is the perfect CPU for people in Siberia. Gaming/working BEAST and Room heater in the same Package for only U$975.99. (Free Shipping BTW)

 

[Dr. Dro]

And it gives Intel the bragging rights to say that they have the first CPU on the market which can hit 6GHz.

Might add, not only "technically can", it does and does so with ease, at least when paired with a motherboard which has an adequate VRM and with adequate cooling.

 

[Pepamami]

If you already have an AM4 board, then it is deffo the most sensible upgrade.

The more I am looking at this garbage with new overpriced motherboards (some with software bugs) and awful overpriced gpus (some with 5Kbytes of RAM), the more I think, that Zen3 and 1X400F are the best choices even for new PC.

 

[Dirt Chip]

Intel really need to make an 3DV-extra-cache analog if they want to reclaim gaming dominance, that was one of their biggest showoff for many years now.
ZEN4-3D put RL to shame with fraction of power consumption and kick in the gaming nerve where it hurt the most.
Add to that, the premium 'KS' image as 'top-of-the-top all around' it shuttered, so a new name is needed.
Maybe RL-refresh will bring that extra cache and more sane wattage..

 

[W1zzard]

So very true. I'm just a bit disappointed there is no 7900X3D included for completeness' sake, if for nothing else. I'd like to know how it compares, rather than guess/infer.

No 7900X3D samples from AMD

 

[JustBenching]

Yes i am a where that they are more efficient. But it dosent change that amd and intel are pushing these cpu´s way out of there eficient range, compared to zen 3. The temperature and power consumption shows that. Just to put some numbers. 5950X tdp is 105 watt but more like 141 watt in real life however 7950X is 170 while its 230 watt in real life. Intel 13900K is more like around 300 watt and 13900KS is 355 watt is seems. Intel amd just let there cpus sipping more and more power and opperate out of where they most efficient. Just to get that last piece of performance that comes with high temperatures and power consumption. Even with PBO my 5950X max out at 200 watt. stil less than 7950X do stock.

Ι don't get the problem honestly. It takes one click to power limit any cpu to whatever you want / need. You don't want to press that single click? There is the 13900t and the 13900 non k, the most efficient out of the box CPUs in existence.. Buy those?

 

[Drash]

No 7900X3D samples from AMD

Shame. I suspect it would have been the worst of both worlds rather than the best, but prefer proof - I guess a no-show can be rather damming.

I can't predict my future tastes, but for now my impression is that X3D chips excel at WoW type games, MMORPGs and variants, whereas FPS need GHz which are a bit lacking, certainly on 7800X3D.

On a side note, thanks for all the Hogwarts work - my wife was REALLY not feeling it, but I persuaded her on the back of forum comments here and she is loving it!

 

[AusWolf]

Ah, the "Keep Spending" product line once again! For those who want 13900K performance for a higher price. Why does this thing exist?

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Ah, the "Keep Spending" product line once again! For those who want 13900K performance for a higher price. Why does this thing exist?

People will pay for halo products regardless of how pointless they may seem. I've been guilty of this a couple times in my tech life.

 

[..0]

13900ks draw more power than my 4090, i get about 220watts in ray traced games.

 

[Dr. Dro]

13900ks draw more power than my 4090, i get about 220watts in ray traced games.

At 720p with DLSS on ultra performance and with your gpu heavily undervolted, I believe you, otherwise nah

And this CPU doesn't consume such extreme amount of energy in regular workloads.

Ah, the "Keep Spending" product line once again! For those who want 13900K performance for a higher price. Why does this thing exist?

It's really good quality silicon from all I can gather, with out of the box clocks rivaling a tweaked 13900K's average final results.That's about it.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

It's really good quality silicon from all I can gather, with out of the box clocks rivaling a tweaked 13900K's average final results.That's about it.

i think it makes most sense with people who want to try and pair it with 8000 memory on somthing like an Apex/Unify X/Tachyon motherboard.

Even then the 13900k gets you like 98% of the way there as it is. So the real hope is a better imc.

 

[Dr. Dro]

i think it makes most sense with people who want to try and pair it with 8000 memory on somthing like an Apex/Unify X/Tachyon motherboard.

Even then the 13900k gets you like 98% of the way there as it is. So the real hope is a better imc.

On my Z690 Ace I seem to be limited by the motherboard in that regard, and that's probably good news. 6400 C34 on an E-ATX board seemed pretty effortless to achieve despite the wall at 6600+, though it's very much related to my own lack of skill tweaking this out, there are other voltages to change that may allow me to achieve the 6800 from my kit on this motherboard.

But as far as I know, Intel doesn't bin them specifically for IMC capabilities, so you may get a better 13900K or even 13700K in that regard.

 

[Tek-Check]

10% is remarkably high for the Macintosh, is this global or American market? If it's 10% of the American market I believe it, Macs are prohibitively expensive otherwise.

It's more global estimate, but we need more data from more market research companies, as they have different methodologies of gathering data.

 

[AusWolf]

i think it makes most sense with people who want to try and pair it with 8000 memory on somthing like an Apex/Unify X/Tachyon motherboard.

Even then the 13900k gets you like 98% of the way there as it is. So the real hope is a better imc.

Waste of money anyway, imo. Thousands of jiggahertzes don't mean anything when there's no real world performance benefit.