1 week ago
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
When considering what nan best processor is for your PC, Intel offers stiff title successful productivity and gaming, contempt facing downAMD's Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 CPUs. Intel's parts conscionable request a spot much powerfulness to do it.
Although nan Core Ultra 9 285K is nan latest flagship CPU from Intel, it only conscionable scrapes onto this list. There are batch of CPUs we'd urge instead, and they each characteristic present arsenic portion of nan champion Intel CPUs you tin bargain successful 2024.
Note: Some reports person indicated that nan Core i9-13900K and nan Core i9-14900K person stableness problems. It's an ongoing investigation, but decidedly thing to consider.
Intel Core i9-14900K
The fastest Intel processor for gaming
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Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Intel Core i5-13600K
The champion Intel processor
Pros
- Cheaper than AMD competition
- Support for 600-series motherboards and DDR4
- Solid multi-core improvements
- Surprising gen-on-gen improvements
Cons
- High powerfulness demands
- Small gaming capacity gains
Why you should bargain this: It's inexpensive, packed pinch cores, and offers overmuch much capacity than its value would suggest.
Who it's for: Gamers and powerfulness users who want highest capacity without breaking nan bank.
What we thought of nan Intel Core i5-13600K:
The dilemma betwixt Core i5 and Core i7 is ever coming pinch Intel processors, but nan Core i5-13600K changes that dynamic. It's overmuch cheaper than nan 14700K while offering akin capacity successful some productivity tasks and gaming. In immoderate cases, it moreover thumps down nan flagship Core i9-13900K, making it 1 of nan best CPUs you tin bargain correct now.
It's moreover competitory pinch nan new-gen 265K and 285K for gaming, which is embarrassing for Intel, but awesome for budget-minded gamers.
For astir $220, you're getting a 14-core CPU pinch timepiece speeds upward of 5.1GHz, which would person been unheard of moreover a mates of years ago. Not each of those 14 cores are built equally, though. Similar to Intel's erstwhile generation, nan Core i5-13600K mixes capacity (P) cores and businesslike (E) cores. With nan Core i5-13600K, you're getting six P-cores and 8 E-cores.
The six P-cores are much than capable for gaming, which is what allows nan Core i5-13600K to compete pinch AMD's Ryzen 5 7600X astatine a akin price. It's nan other E-cores wherever Intel shoots ahead, though, offering amended multi-core capacity successful demanding tasks for illustration video encoding and rendering.
You tin overclock it for added capacity too, helping it compete much readily pinch higher-end options successful gaming and productivity.
For further savings, look retired for nan 13600KF, arsenic it tin often beryllium recovered for a fewer dollars cheaper. If you want to agelong your fund a spot further, nan 13700K isn't overmuch much and gives you a mates of other cores to play pinch for accrued capacity successful prime apps and games.
Intel Core i5-13600K
The champion Intel processor
Intel
Intel Core i5-13400F
The champion fund Intel processor
Pros
- Excellent value
- 10 cores connected a caller architecture
- Fantastic gaming performance
Cons
- No integrated graphics
- Doesn't support overclocking
Why you should bargain this: It's inexpensive while still offering highly competitory performance.
Who it's for: PC builders connected a tight fund that only request a fewer cores.
What we thought of nan Intel Core i5-13400F:
Intel ever follows up its main releases pinch much budget-friendly options arsenic a procreation goes on, and unfortunately, they don't ever get nan limelight they deserve. That couldn't beryllium much existent than it is pinch nan Core i5-13400F. For not overmuch much than $150, you get a earnestly powerful CPU for gaming and thing other besides.
This 1 comes from nan Intel 13th generation, which isn't precisely cutting-edge, but don't fto that scare you off. The Core i5-13400F opts for six capacity cores and 4 ratio cores, giving it beardown multithreading performance, astatine a adjacent price.
Gaming is wherever nan spot shines most, oftentimes only taking a backseat of 5% to 10% compared to nan much costly Core i5-13600K. You tin push nan processor further by removing its powerfulness limit, too, allowing it to rival moreover nan Core i9-12900K from a mates of generations back. That's a batch of CPU powerfulness for astir $150.
There are a mates of caveats for this one, though. For starters, it doesn't support overclocking, but you tin still region nan powerfulness limit for a capacity boost. In addition, it doesn't see integrated graphics, truthful you'll request to brace nan CPU pinch 1 of nan best graphics cards. You tin prime up nan Core i5-13400, which is nan aforesaid CPU pinch integrated graphics, but it's astir $25 much expensive.
Intel Core i5-13400F
The champion fund Intel processor
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Intel Core i9-14900K
The fastest Intel processor for gaming
Pros
- Big improvements successful gaming performance
- Same pricing arsenic erstwhile generation
- Works pinch LGA1700 socket
- AI-assisted overclocking connected 14900K
Cons
- Minor productivity improvements
- Still slower than AMD 3D V-Cache chips
- Still very powerfulness hungry
Why you should bargain this: It's nan astir powerful Intel CPU for gaming you tin bargain correct now.
Who it's for: Anyone upgrading from 12th-gen aliases older.
What we thought of nan Intel Core i9-14900K:
Intel's Core i9-14900K is simply a refresh, and because of that, it doesn't bring awesome capacity improvements to nan Core i9-13900K, which we'll get to next. For astir people, nan Core i9-13900K is still nan CPU to buy. If you're looking for nan absolute champion gaming performance, though, nan Core i9-14900K offers it. The 285K mightiness beryllium newer, but it falls short successful excessively galore games to beryllium recommendable.
The 14900K is adjacent successful gaming capacity to AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and anemic productivity tasks, specified arsenic compression, are amended pinch nan caller 14th-gen chips. However, areas for illustration rendering and transcoding stay mostly unchanged compared to nan erstwhile generation.
There's nary upgrade way pinch this chip, though. Next clip you upgrade, you'll request a caller motherboard too.
Intel Core i9-14900K
The fastest Intel processor for gaming
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Intel Core i9-13900K
The champion high-end Intel processor
Pros
- Cheaper than AMD competition
- Support for 600-series motherboards and DDR4
- Solid multi-core improvements
- Surprising gen-on-gen improvements
Cons
- High powerfulness demands
- Small gaming capacity gains
Why you should bargain this: It's nan champion bang for your subordinate for high-end value.
Who's it for: High-end enthusiasts who don't mind spending up for nan champion of nan best.
What we thought of nan Intel Core i9-13900K:
The champion Intel CPU connected nan marketplace correct now isn't nan Arrow Lake flagships, aliases moreover nan 14th-generation apical dogs, but Intel's Core i9-13900K, and that's astonishing because it's not moreover nan astir expensive. It's still a pricey chip, but nan Core i9-13900K manages to undercut AMD's competing Ryzen 9 7950X while offering amended capacity successful galore cases.
No mini portion of that capacity advantage is that nan Core i9-13900K comes pinch 24 cores. You get 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, giving you a full of 32 threads to activity with. Even much impressive, nan processor tin boost up to 5.8GHz retired of nan box, offering immoderate of nan highest timepiece speeds disposable successful a desktop CPU correct now.
Despite sporting nan 13th-gen Raptor Lake architecture, you tin still usage older 600-series motherboards and DDR4 representation pinch nan Core i9-13900K, too. That makes it a overmuch much compelling (and cheaper) upgrade way if you haven't jumped to DDR5 rather yet.
The only downside of nan Core i9-13900K is that it's excessively powerful. It runs basking and draws a batch of power, and successful tasks for illustration gaming, nan cheaper Core i5-13600K offers almost identical performance. If you request highest horsepower, though, thing thumps nan Core i9-13900K.
The 285K is worthy considering too, arsenic it is overmuch faster than this spot successful productivity, but nan gaming capacity is overmuch little impressive.
Intel Core i9-13900K
The champion high-end Intel processor
Intel Core i3-12100F
The champion Intel processor nether $100
Pros
- A step-up complete nan Core i3-10100F
- Suitable for ray gaming and regular use
- Good capacity for nan price
Cons
- Requires a discrete graphics card
Why you should bargain this: It's a cheap, yet decent current-gen processor that costs astir $100.
Who's it for: Users connected a fund who still want a versatile CPU.
What we thought of nan Intel Core i3-12100F:
It's not portion of nan latest generations of Intel chips, but for astir $80, nan 12100F is simply a bargain for introduction level gaming and productivity.
Equipped pinch 4 cores and 8 threads arsenic good arsenic timepiece speeds reaching up to 4.3GHz, this processor is simply a spot of an oddity successful nan Alder Lake lineup, arsenic it doesn't stock nan hybrid architecture of its much costly siblings and alternatively serves up only P-cores. That doesn't make it unsuitable astatine all, however, and it will transportation its ain weight done some gaming and various regular tasks. It whitethorn not beryllium your first prime if you want thing genuinely powerful, but if you're looking to support nan costs low, this should beryllium your go-to.
If you tin find it for comparable money, nan 14100F is astir 10% faster and worthy grabbing, but different nan 12100F is nan worth king for Intel successful 2024.
Intel Core i3-12100F
The champion Intel processor nether $100
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
Best Intel CPU for productivity
Pros
- Insane ratio improvements
- Delivers multi-threaded capacity gains without Hyper-Threading
- Runs very cool successful games
- A batch of headroom for CPU and representation overclocking
Cons
- Gaming capacity struggles
- Inconsistent productivity performance
- High-end representation required for champion experience
Why you should bargain this: It's Intel's fastest processor for productivity yet.
Who's it for: Professionals who specifically want to usage Intel CPUs.
What we thought of nan Intel Core Ultra 9 285K:
In our review, we called nan Intel Core Ultra 9 285K impressive, but not needfully good. That's a adjacent summation, because while it blows nan doors disconnected galore master and imaginative applications, it is very overmuch worse successful gaming than nan champion CPUs from caller years, and location are moreover immoderate non-gaming apps that don't adjacent arsenic well, either.
That's partially because this is simply a very caller spot creation pinch a caller architecture and lacking successful simultaneous multi-threading, but it makes afloat usage of those cores either way, delivering awesome capacity successful a wide scope of apps. It's besides acold much businesslike than caller Intel flagships person been, which is simply a invited change.
This is not a bully CPU for gaming though. While it's accelerated successful immoderate games, it's overmuch slower successful others, and AMD's gaming CPUs rustle it retired of nan water.
If you aren't joined to Intel, AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X is simply a very viable alternative, too, pinch overmuch much accordant performance.
Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
Best Intel CPU for productivity
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s nan quality betwixt K and F Intel processors?
Intel uses aggregate suffixes to bespeak different features, but "K" and "F" are among nan astir common. "K" processors are unlocked, truthful you tin overclock them pinch a compatible motherboard. "F" processors don't travel pinch integrated graphics, truthful you'll request a dedicated graphics card. You whitethorn moreover find a "KF" processor, indicating that it's unlocked and requires discrete graphics.
You tin usually find variants of Intel's starring i9, i7, and i5 processors pinch either aliases some suffixes. If you're readying connected building a gaming computer, you tin prevention a fewer dollars by purchasing nan "F" version of a processor. On nan different side, "K" processors are somewhat much costly pinch their overclocking capabilities. If you want a afloat breakdown connected Intel's naming scheme, make judge to publication our CPU buying guide.
How bully are AMD Ryzen processors compared to Intel?
Intel Core and AMD Ryzen some connection fantabulous processors astatine different value points and successful different forms, truthful 1 marque isn't definitively amended than nan other. In 2024, though, AMD's X3D CPUs are nan champion for gaming, while Intel's lineup tends to connection much wide performance, astatine nan costs of a higher powerfulness draw. The newer AMD Ryzen processors pack a batch of cores and execute well, truthful they're still very tin CPUs, but they're a small much circumstantial successful what they're bully for.
In nan mobile world, Intel utilized to dominate. Now, you tin find devices pinch AMD Ryzen processors, too, and they execute great. That said, location is still a acold greater number of machines that travel pinch Intel processors, and they stack up good against nan AMD competition.
How do you cognize which processor is champion for your needs?
To find nan champion processor for your needs, you request to see nan applications you want to run. If you're into gaming, for example, a processor pinch beardown single-core capacity is simply a bully prime because games usually accent only a fistful of cores astatine a time. On nan different hand, contented creation applications for illustration Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve tin return advantage of a greater number of cores, truthful a processor pinch a batch of cores is amended for them.
Those are bully rules to follow. Games favour a accelerated processor complete 1 pinch a batch of cores, and content-creation apps for illustration much cores complete faster ones.
How tin you show if a PC processor is immoderate good?
The champion measurement to show if a PC processor is bully is to look astatine individual benchmarks. Specs for illustration halfway count and timepiece velocity don't show nan afloat communicative — they only show what nan processor is tin of wrong its ain scope of products. If you've settled connected a definite marque aliases series, however, looking astatine halfway counts and timepiece speeds tin show you wherever nan processor sits successful nan range.
If you want to trial your ain processor, location are plentifulness of devices available. Cinebench is simply a awesome benchmarking instrumentality that focuses solely connected nan processor, while PCMark 10 provides an overview of capacity crossed a suite of day-to-day tasks.
Make judge you're buying a CPU from a caller procreation that has astatine slightest six cores, and you should beryllium alright.
How does Intel's CPU naming strategy work?
Intel's naming strategy tin get a small confusing sometimes, but erstwhile you cognize your measurement astir it, you'll beryllium capable to navigate each processor by bosom without needing to cheque what it does.
Let's presume nan processor you're trying to look up is called "Intel Core i9-14600K." The first part, Intel Core, refers to nan marque of nan processor. Intel has respective brands that are not Intel Core, specified arsenic nan low-end Intel Pentium aliases Intel Celeron. It besides has immoderate newer mobile CPUs, branded Core Ultra.
The 2nd portion is nan marque modifier. This is important and refers to really powerful a peculiar CPU is wrong its generation. In adition to nan fund i3, Intel besides offers i5, i7, and i9. The i5 and i7 lines are typically midrange to high-end, and nan i9 is reserved for high-end processors.
Moving connected to nan numerical portion of nan name, nan first 2 digits mention to nan procreation of nan processor. As an example, Intel's 14th-generation processors, Raptor Lake, each commencement pinch a "14." The last 3 digits mention to nan circumstantial exemplary and besides spell up depending connected really bully a exemplary is.
The missive astatine nan extremity refers to nan type of processor. There are galore variants, truthful check them retired connected Intel's website if you want a afloat list. The astir communal ones include:
- K - Unlocked (overclockable)
- F - No integrated graphics
- S - Special edition
- T - Low power, little performance
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