Intel BX8071513900F

The i9-13900F crushes multi-threaded workloads with a PassMark score of 48,246, landing in the 93rd percentile of our database. Efficiency is best-in-class at 97.8 out of 100. But the included stock cooler has a nasty habit of dying within a year, so factor a decent aftermarket cooler into your budget.

The 24-core configuration here is 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores, with a boost clock of 5.6GHz on the P-cores. That hybrid design is what lets this chip hit a 48,246 multi-thread PassMark score while keeping the base power at 65W. Under turbo load it'll pull up to 219W, so you'll want a decent motherboard with solid VRMs and a real cooler if you plan to push it. The 36MB of L3 cache and 16MB of L2 cache help keep those 32 threads fed, and the memory controller supports both DDR5 and DDR4, which gives you flexibility on platform cost.

Single-thread performance is where this chip really shines for gaming. The 4,396 single-thread PassMark score puts it in the top tier of our database, and that translates to high frame rates in CPU-bound titles. One owner reported 280 FPS in Warzone 2's benchmark with an RTX 4080 and 7000MHz DDR5, which is a massive jump from older Ryzen 3000 series chips. The efficiency score is the real headline though, at 97.8 out of 100 and the 99th percentile. That's best-in-class territory, and it means you're getting a lot of compute per watt compared to other high-end desktop parts.

Against the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the 13900F trades blows depending on the workload. The Ryzen part has the 3D V-Cache advantage for gaming, which likely explains why the 13900F's gaming score of 78.9 is its weakest area. But the Intel chip counters with more cores and threads, 24 versus 8, which gives it a big edge in heavily threaded productivity tasks. The 13900F's multi-thread PassMark score of 48,246 is a serious number that the 8-core Ryzen simply can't match in raw throughput. Against older Intel X-series parts like the i9-9960X or i9-7940X, the 13900F is a generational leap forward in both single-thread and efficiency, while drawing less power under load. The Xeon E5-2696v4 is a server-oriented chip with more cores but much lower clock speeds, so it loses badly in single-threaded work and gaming.

Pricing on this chip is all over the place depending on where you shop. In the US, we're seeing a spread of $175 between vendors, with listings ranging from $500 to $675. That's a huge gap for the exact same processor, so it pays to shop around. The $500 listing is the obvious pick if you can find it in stock, while the $675 price is hard to justify when the same silicon is available for less elsewhere. In Europe, the spread is €94, with prices from €493 to €587 across German, Spanish, French, and Italian retailers. The €493 listing is the one to hunt for. Given the multi-thread performance on offer, even the higher end of these ranges is competitive with what you'd pay for a comparable Ryzen part, but there's no reason to overpay when the price gap is this wide.

The Core i9-13900F posts a PassMark multi-thread score of 48,246, which lands it in the 93rd percentile of our database. That's a serious number for a chip with a 65W base power rating, and it puts this CPU in the same conversation as enthusiast parts that cost considerably more. The single-thread score of 4,396 is equally strong, sitting at the 95th percentile, which means snappy everyday responsiveness and excellent gaming frame pacing when paired with a discrete GPU.

The catch is right there in the name. The F suffix means no integrated graphics, so you'll need a dedicated card just to get a picture on screen. That's fine for the target audience of gamers and creators, but it does mean this chip is useless for a budget office build or a home theater PC without a GPU. The included boxed cooler is also a known weak point, which we'll get into below.

If you're building a system without a discrete GPU, this chip is a non-starter. The lack of integrated graphics means you literally cannot get a display output without a dedicated card. Gamers who prioritize frame rates above all else should also look elsewhere, as the gaming score of 78.9 out of 100 is the weakest area for this processor, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 3D V-Cache gives it a clear edge in gaming workloads. And if you're not comfortable with potential BIOS updates, drive recognition troubleshooting, and swapping out a stock cooler that might die on you, the installation experience here could be more hassle than it's worth.

The Core i9-13900F is a powerhouse processor that delivers exceptional multi-threaded performance and top-tier single-thread speed for the money. The efficiency numbers are genuinely impressive, and the flexibility of DDR4 and DDR5 support makes it easy to build around. But the included cooler is a real problem, with multiple owners reporting failures within a year, and the lack of integrated graphics means you're committing to a discrete GPU from day one. If you're building a high-end gaming or content creation rig and you already have a solid cooler and GPU, this chip is an easy recommendation at the right price. Just budget for a proper aftermarket cooler and don't expect the boxed one to last.