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We were deeply impressed by the 12th Gen Alder Lake Core i5-12600K and have been eagerly anticipating the Raptor Lake Core i5-13600K.
This feeling was reinforced when we reviewed the mighty Core i9-13900K which is a huge improvement over the previous Core i9-12900K. That can be a tricky frame of mind when you start a review as it means the Core i5-13600K might very easily have disappointed by merely being very good when we were hoping for absolutely stunning.
Happily we are able to report the Core i5-13600K is indeed pretty darn special and has surpassed our expectations.
The performance of Core i5-13600K is undeniable although the power draw has edged up from 120W with Core i5-12600K to 150W+. In essence this CPU performs more like a Core i7 than a regular Core i5 and it requires more power to deliver that performance.
We found the behaviour of the Core i5 on our Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero was very good indeed and the Vcore was under 1.20V on Auto. When you factor in our chosen Corsair H150i Elite cooler the result is very modest CPU temperatures. Balanced against that we hear reports that some motherboards shove in higher Vcore and that can make a dramatic difference to your CPU temperature, particularly if you use a cooler that is borderline.
Our other complaint is pricing as it doesn't seem right that Core i5 should be pushing close to £400 however this seems to be the way of the world so we have to hope things will improve over the coming months.
You can buy the Intel Core i5-13600K for £374.99 from Overclockers UK HERE.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
Pros:
- Stunning performance.
- Simple overclocking with Intel XTU.
- Can be used with a budget DDR4 motherboard.
Cons:
- Here in the UK the new Core i5 is expensive.
- Overclocking doesn’t add as much extra performance as we hoped.
- Power draw looks more like Core i7 than Core i5.
KitGuru says: Core i5-13600K is a damn serious processor.
